A New World
by RedD3ATH13
Summary: Jordan Emmett was just another high school graduate, fresh out of school, when he was transported into the world of Minecraftia. Here he finds struggles with love, allies, enemies, and his biggest challenge yet: himself. Maybe living in Minecraftia isn't as easy as when it only involved a keyboard and mouse. Contains mature language, sexual content, violence, & various MC mods.
1. It's Just a Dream, Right?

**_All standard disclaimers apply_**

Character Bio

Name: Jordan Emmett

Age: 17

Race: African American

Appearance: 5'11" **_(height)_**, dark brown eyes, averge looks, black hair, buzz cut (no widow's peak), diagonal tattoo of birds in flight on each wrist

General Clothing: Black-rimmed glasses., open short-sleeve, red, black, and white plaid button-down/button-up **_(I honestly don't know the difference)_**shirt; white t-shirt underneath, black, worn jeans, black and red Nike Elites, red, black, and white Nike Air Force 1s

Personality: Optimistic, nonchalant, joker, complete dick at times, charismatic, sarcastic,smart but sometimes denies or neglects his intelligence, can break down and work through any problem if he can concentrate, good singer, athletic, seems as if he completely loses his sanity at times, tends to brain-fart under extreme pressure, doesn't like being held back from his full potential, normally hard to take seriously but knows when it's time to be serious

Quotes: "Fuck this shit, I'm out.", "Live to die another day", "Don't worry about it.", "You've failed me.", "I'm good to those who are good to me. The rest of you can kiss my ass.", "This looks legit.", "I call hacks!", "Bull. Shit.", "What the fucking shit!?", "We...are fucked." "It is what it is."

**Chapter 1: It's Just a Dream...Right?**

I walked into my room and dropped my backpack onto the floor next to my bed. "It's finally summer!" I exclaimed, relieved that after about nine and a half months, of tests, homework, projects, reports, and general boredom, I finally got a chance to kick back and relax. I took off my shoes and put them in my closet then sat on my bed, opening and turning on my laptop. I clicked the _Minecraft_ icon and loaded up my survival world. After beating the vanilla game too many times to count, I downloaded the Mob Talker Mod. I didn't do it to make the game more exciting, but more to add a simple aspect that would make it a bit less monotonous. I'm not big on mods but in _Minecraft_, if you didn't play on servers, they're essential in not dying of boredom. I always want to play video games as legit as possible, so I never get DLC that changes or affects the story, besides adding on to it, or gameplay. This means nothing that adds special abilities, enhancements, weapons, etc. Only mods that were made purely to have fun.

In my virtual blocky world I was, yet again, almost to the Ender Dragon. Just as I finished loading the Eyes of Ender into each End portal frame my laptop gave a low battery warning. "Dammit." I muttered and began searching for my charger. After a minute or so of searching I found it and plugged it into the outlet. When plugging the other end into my laptop I got an electric shock. Not painful, but definitely noticeable. As I touched my keyboard I felt a sudden and brief surge of energy flow throughout my body. "That was...strange." I sad but decided to dismiss it and not acknowledge it further. Before going through the portal I checked my inventory because once you're in, there's no going back without either you or the Ender Dragon dying. My diamond sword I named Bitch Killer and enchanted with Fire Aspect IV and Sharpness III thanks to some enchanted books from a few dungeons. My "Infinity Bow", an unofficially named bow that's pretty much self-explanatory, along with its single arrow. 20 golden apples that it took hours to get all the gold for. A full set of unenchanted diamond armor, which I was wearing. A fuck-ton of dirt to climb to the top of the healing towers. Five water buckets in case I accidentally make eye contact with a few Endermen. My diamond pickaxe to break out of "solitary confinement" as I called it. A bunch of eggs, just for fun. "Aaaaaand...I'm ready." I said to myself as I entered the portal.

I started the all-too-familiar routine of break out of "solitary confinement", the name I gave to the small space that you spawn in upon entering the End. As I made it to the surface I immediately saw the giant black dragon flying around. "All right you big black son of a bitch, let's get this show on the road." I said not caring about the fact that the dragon was a bunch of 1s and 0s and couldn't hear me. I went for the nearest healing tower and quickly started building up with my dirt. I was nearly knocked off by the Ender Dragon's swooping attack. After repeating the build-up-and-destroy tactic and attacking the dragon in between towers, I had taken heavy damage but still had the win in the palm of my hand. At the top of the last remaining healing tower, i pulled out my pick and hit the last ender crystal, blowing it up and destroying it. I was so confident in myself that I was caught off guard and the Ender Dragon swooped in, knocking me off of the obsidian tower. I hit the End stone ground and did from fall damage. I stared at the screen of my laptop, dumbfounded. On the screen read the words "You Died". "No...fucking...way." I said not believing what just happened. I...I...died. I actually died. It'd been so long since that happened that I'd forgotten what it was like. "Bull. Shit." I said.

That night I couldn't sleep. I stared at the ceiling of my room. I could actually see it because I'd been staring for so long that my eyes adjusted to the dark. I just stared, thinking about my first _Minecraft_ death in almost a year. I knew I was overreacting but I just couldn't get over it. There was something about it that didn't feel right. Like it was foreshadowing something. Or maybe it was déjà vu. I couldn't really tell but I knew something about it wasn't right. Eventually, sleep overcame me and wrapped around me like a wet blanket.

I was standing in darkness. Pure darkness that stretched for as far as I could see. A few moments later I realized that when I looked down I could see my abdomen and lower perfectly clear as if I were in broad daylight. I wasn't in darkness; I was in nothingness. Pure emptiness. I walked for a bit and hit something, but nothing. I'd hit and invisible wall. When I made Contact with the wall, it lit up in ripples of transparent hexagons. After pounding on the wall a lot, the other side became suddenly and completely illuminated. On the other side of the wall was a world different from my own. From the other side of the wall i could see a world entirely made of blocks. I could see _Minecraft_, or better said Minecraftia, the land that _Minecraft_ is set in. "There's no way this is real. This has got to be a dream." I said to myself. I couldn't believe my eyes. Even if it was in a dream through a transparent, hexagonal wall, I was staring into Minecraftia. I tried to walk further, but couldn't get past the wall. "Oh come on. It's a dream. I should be able to do anything I want." I'd never actually ever had a lucid dream but there's a first time for everything. I concentrated hard and pushed myself forward. The hexagons lit up brilliantly but I was making it through. It was like trying to walk through gelatin, but not sticky or wet or anything. I made it to the other side and was greeted by a loud, deep, disembodied voice. _"Hello, Jordan. I see you've managed to make it into our realm. Only the greatest of minds are capable of that." _boomed the voice. _"Are you sure you don't want to turn back now and save yourself the trouble of what you will face here?" _continued the voice. I looked back toward the wall and saw my bedroom, just as I had seen Minecraftia a few moments ago. I turned forward and said, "Fuck that, Mysterious Voice. I'm here now and it's not like turning back now matters. This is just a dream after all." _"Yes, a dream." _said the voice with a slightly evil chuckle. _"Very well, then."_ he said and in that instant the sight of my bedroom disappeared and returned to pure, black emptiness. _"What has been done cannot be undone. Prepare for the trials and hardships that come with our realm, young human." _said the voice, fading away. "It's just a dream. Sometimes I feel like my subconscious takes things way too seriously." I said, thinking aloud. This could be more annoying; I could have spawned in a snow biome. I fucking hate when that happens; it's just so damn annoying. And to me, it happens a whole lot. Might as well enjoy while it lasts before I wake up. The last thing I remember is the sight of a blocky, Minecraftian beach, before everything faded to black.

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**_And so begins the tale of Jordan and his adventures in Minecraftia. This is my first time ever writing a fanfiction so constructive criticism is very much appreciated. This is also the first time I've written a story since I was in 6th grade, so I'm probably a little rusty. Anyway, thank you for reading; I really appreciate it, and leave a review with some feedback on how it looks so far, if I should continue, etc._**

_**I do take requests for OCs for this story. If you want to submit a request, do NOT-I repeat, do NOT-send it via a review. If you want me to add an OC into the story send me a detailed bio of them IN A PM. Every and any OC request sent in a review will be ignored completely and immediately without consideration. I know it may be a lot quicker and easier to send them in a review, but, for the sake of your OCs, please do it in a PM. **_


	2. Eyes in the Shadows

**_So I checked on the story and saw that it was doing pretty damn good considering that it's my first. in under 48 hours of me publishing it it got two favorites, two follows, 35 user views, and 28 visitor views. No reviews or feedback yet but I'm probably just rushing myself. I'll probably wait a day or two before I actually post this chapter, but I'm technically writing this on 6/16/2014 (it's after midnight) . Anyway, thanks to those of you who favorited and followed. It feels really good to know that someone out there is actually taking the time out of their day to read and actually enjoy my story so far. But I think I've droned on a bit too long so without further ado, let's get this chapter started._**

**_All standard disclaimers apply._**

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**Chapter 2: Eyes in the Shadows**

I sit upright and am nearly blinded when I open my eyes. Why is my room so bright? I cover my eyes long enough for the burning feeling to stop. Once it did I slowly opened my eyes. I look at my surroundings and realize it's a beach. But there's something odd about it. Once my brain actually analyzes and processes my surroundings, I notice that it's completely made of blocks. Just like in _Minecraft_. Just like in my dream. This means one of two things; either I'm still dreaming, or this is real. I need to focus my mind. If this is a dream I should be able to control it. I close my mind and intently focus on a single thing. I open my eyes and look ahead. No red Corvette Stingray with Selena Gomez inside wearing a bikini. I guess this is reality now. Oddly enough, I find myself easily accepting this world as my new reality. Then again, I've always been that kind of way. I've always been the type to quickly accept and embrace events if they already happened, depending on the event.

I guess I'm playing this out as if it were still just a video game. Starting with the famous first task of _Minecraft_: getting wood. Behind me in the not-so-far distance I can see a forest full of oak trees. All right, anything but a snow biome, annoying fucking things. I waste no time in getting to my feet and taking off button-down **_(That's what I'm calling his shirt, it's what I've called them my whole life)_** and shaking the sand off of it, before casually tossing it over my shoulders and slipping my arms through the sleeves. I notice that anything more than about 15 Earth feet away starts getting blurry **_(I don't know how many blocks that is so I used IRL measurements)_**. "Damn, where are my glasses?" I ask no one in particular and begin searching for them. After maybe 30 seconds of searching I find them semi-buried in the sand near where I was lying about two minutes ago. There's no damage but I will have to clean them off. "Whatever." I say nonchalantly and tuck them into my right breast pocket on my shirt. I notice that my backpack from Earth, which wasn't present in my dream, is now sitting in the sand near my "spawn point", but is empty. I pick it up and sling it over my right shoulder, carrying it with one strap, just as I did on Earth. I shake the sand out of my hair and proceed toward the forest.

Once in the forest I already had four raw beef **_(I don't think "beefs" sounds right)_**, two raw porkchops, and three wool, thanks to some animals I found on the way. I find a tree with a trunk that looked about five wood blocks tall. I approach a tree and just stand there, realizing that I don't know how to go about this. Do I just tap it repeatedly or punch it like I'm trying to kill it? Guess I'll use the punching method. This better not hurt. Sure enough, I punch the middle of the trunk and a single block slightly cracks in the center. The crack is noticeable on all four sides of the tree. i continue punching and eventually the wood block breaks and instantly shrinks to about the size of a softball. A small holographic message shows up above it. I assumed it was a quantity counter, as all it said was "1". After punching down about six trees, the counter displayed "32". "All right...now how do I convert them?" I asked out loud after I realized that I had completely no idea how to convert the wood into planks. "Well, shit." I said, not too worried because I knew I would get it eventually.

After a few, very short-feeling, hours of various failed techniques, gestures, and voice commands, I gave up. I had even tried vertically swiping down at the air, like in _Sword Art Online;_ I got nothing. By now, the sun had gone down and monsters were spawning not too far away. Even though the monsters aren't close enough to take notice of me, I feel a presence, maybe even two, and I feel as if someone is watching me. This one was too big to be just a single person. I dismiss the presences and sit against an oak tree I had left standing. "Might as well put my wood away." **_(Stop smiling and/or giggling, be mature)_** I said. The whole time the wood was still in my hand, the size of a softball. I take off my backpack and sit it on the ground in front of me. I open it to a sight that pisses me off. When I open the backpack, another holgraphic image, this one a lot larger than the quantity counter. The hologram displayed the inventory and 2x2 crafting interface. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I yelled a bit too loud. I'd alerted the monsters of my presence. "Shit." I whispered as if they don't already know I'm here. I toss my wood into my backpack and it shows up in my first inventory slot; I zip up the backpack, sling it over my shoulder, and quickly rise to my feet . I don't have time to make weapons or even marvel at how cool the inventory thing was. Now, I have to **run**.

There are two skeletons (already within bow range by now), four zombies, two spiders, and a single creeper. The spiders and skeletons were all I have to worry about at the moment, with the spiders' speed and the skeletons' ranged attacks. I begin running because the spiders are about 3 blocks away and almost close enough to attack me. I never liked bugs. I'm not afraid of them, I just don't like them. If I see a spider on the ground, I don't scream in terror and comment on how "big" it is, I fucking step on it. But it's entirely different when the spider is almost three feet tall and six feet wide and there are two of them coming at you at an unnatural speed. I was kind of fucking horrified at seeing them now, in what's my new IRL. But I can save shitting my pants for later, because now I gotta keep running.I outrun the zombies and creeper, but the spiders and skeletons are oddly persistent. And I don't like it. I hear something shoot towards my head and duck, a split-second away from being decapitated by an arrow. It nestles itself into the trunk of a tree I passed a half of a second ago. I stumble and accidentally avoid another arrow. "Too close" I say, running out of breath. I need to lose these mobs soon or I'll meet an unpleasant demise. Probably something like being eaten alive by a giant spider while I bleed out of my skull because an arrow is buried in it.

I see a large dirt hill ahead and realize that this is it. It's now or never. If I don't lose them here I die, and I'm not dying here or now. I reach the hill with about 15 blocks between me and the mobs. In front of me is a two-block high dirt wall i dig up two dirt blocks behind me and use one to get up the wall. I break that block, leaving no way for the skeletons to get up, and place the other one one block in front of and below me, creating an overhang to stop the spiders from climbing up. I continue to climb up the hill while avoiding arrows from the skeleton. I make it to the top of the hill and it is, thankfully, free of hostile mobs. The spiders and skeletons, from what I saw during the chase, were at least partially sentient and intelligent. This means that I didn't stop them, but stalled them and that they would eventually find another way up the hill. I quickly convert my wood to planks and create a shelter **_(take note that I said "shelter" not "home" or "house")_**. I leave a few 1x1 spaces empty, essentially as windows to let the moonlight in. I make a crafting table, that used the same hologram concept as the inventory and quantity counter, and craft a bed. I sit on the bed and reach for my face to take my glasses off. I feel nothing there and remember that I never put them on. I take them out of my breast pocket and clean the sand off of them, something I still hadn't done. I place them on the crafting table. I try to lie down and go to sleep, but can't. I still feel the presences and that someone is watching me. I eventually give in to the exhaustion from the long chase and my eyes become heavy and begin to close. As my eyes close I see an oval-shaped force field cover me and my bed. Next I slip into unconsciousness and start dreaming.

***Third Person POV***

In the shadows of the forest near Jordan's current shelter, two pairs of eyes were watching from the dark. One pair of glowing red eyes belonged to a 5'7" figure and the other eyes, a pair of smoky gray eyes, belonged to a 5'9" figure. "What did you see?" said a female voice from the second figure. "A boy. Human. He somehow managed to escape our mobs without hurting them, pretty cleverly in fact. He was kinda cute, too." said a mischievous female voice from the shorter figure. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Ana. You don't even know him yet." said the taller figure, the more mature of the two. 'I wish I had night vision.' she thought. "He was a human, Skelett. A human! This is a rare occasion and a big deal!" said Ana, the shorter, more mischievous girl, excitedly. "It may be, but we should inform the others before you rush in and do something risky and stupid that could get yourself killed." said Skelett, the taller, more responsible girl. "Aw, you're no fun." Ana gave a pout. Skelett smiled at her playful friend. "I may be but I keep you alive." replied Skelett. "And that's why we're friends." replied Ana with a smile. "Yeah, now come on. The sun will be up soon." "Yeah, let's go." The two said as they withdrew into the forest and into their secret tunnel leading underground.

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**_Thus ends chapter 2 of A New World. Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a review saying how it looks so far. I think it's coming along well but I don't want to leave out you guys' opinions too. So none of you think I gave Jordan a magical power that lets him feel presences, I actually have that ability in real life; I can't explain it but I can feel when somebody is around, even if I can't see him. I can also feel when a TV is turned on or off. I don't know how I do it but personally, I think it's kinda cool. I'm thinking of putting in little bonuses here and there later in the story. I'll explain later, hopefully in a few later chapters, what these "bonuses" are. I'm saving them for when I get more of a loyal audience. To avoid any misunderstandings, I'll explain to you what I mean by a loyal audience. I mean once I get A steady audience of people who support and enjoy my story and will stick with it to the end. At the time I'm writing this I only have two people like that , so I hope soon I get more. Well I really hope you enjoyed reading and don't forget to leave a review. Not only will I accept constructive criticism, but anything is good. It shows that you actually care enough to tell me how I can improve the story, what about Minecraft I may be getting wrong, etc. In case you're wondering why a force field appears around Jordan as he sleeps, it's a rule of Minecraft: If monsters can't get to you and your shelter has some source of light (so monsters can't spawn inside) you can't be harmed (unless maybe you're in multiplayer). I'll probably not do that third person POV often, it'll primarily be Jordan's POV. But anyway, once more, thank you for reading and have a great day._**


	3. The Girl in Green

_**Here's chapter 3. I honestly have nothing more to say than thank you for reading this far. I left some of Jordan'a personality out of his bio. He is highly perceptive, he loves destruction, he loves explosions, he's a pyro(he loves fire), and he is really impatient. If anyone's having trouble imagining Jordan's voice, it's deep, and I mean deep, even for his age. But it naturally gets a bit higher around people he's comfortable with. I won't stress for reviews after this chapter because I know some people are enjoying. Anyway, enjoy the chapter :)**_

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**Chapter 3: The Girl in Green**

I slowly open my eyes to the wooden plank roof of my temporary hut. Outside I hear the sounds of burning zombies and skeletons. I survived my first night. This is a special moment in any beginner Minecrafter's life, but I'm no beginner. Jordan is no noob. Step one: Get wood. Done. Step two: Make shelter. Done; I don't like the shelter, but it's a shelter none the less. I can't live in this hut. It's only 5x5x4 **_(lengthxwidthxheight)_** blocks, and that's including the roof.

I leave the hut and walk toward the forest right beside it. Talk about convenient. I create a wooden axe and begin gathering more wood. I get caught off guard in the middle of chopping down a tree when I see a quick flash of green not so far away. I shouldn't be too sure of what it was; it disappeared just as fast as it had appeared. But I knew that color all too well. That shade of green was that of a creeper, a Minecrafter's worst nightmare. But not mine. The creeper is my overall favorite mob. It symbolizes two things that I love, destruction and explosions. I run toward the foliage that the creeper disappeared into.

I keep walking in the direction I saw the creeper go in. After about of 30 seconds, I come to a slightly secluded pond. I can still feel the creeper's presence here, so I know it's close. "Damn, must've gotten away." I say, pretending that I'm oblivious to the creeper's presence. I mine the sugarcane. I take my glasses off and clean them. Little things to raise the illusion that I don't know the creeper is still here. Yet I still feel the presence. It hasn't left. Hiding isn't exactly in creeper AI. Something isn't right here. I put my glasses back on and say, "Oh for fuck's sake, just come out. I know you're still here and that you're not a normal creeper." with my arms folded, now out of patience.

When the creeper steps out from the tree directly in front of me I expect to see an armless, green abomination with black, empty eye sockets. I'm completely and utterly stunned at what I do see. Standing before is a girl. A girl, roughly 5'7", with long orange hair that went just below her shoulders, golden eyes, a green creeper hoodie, brown gloves, green stockings that reached up to her thighs, and green ballet flats that match her stockings **(there's no official full-body pictures of her; I don't know what shoes she wears but this is what I'm going with). **I don't know what she wears under that jacket, but it's probably not much more than her panties. Or at least that's what I choose to think. Yep, I have the mind of your typical teenage guy.

"No...way." I say, dazed at the girl standing before me. This girl is Cupa from the Mob Talker Mod. But she'd probably get freaked out if I said that I know exactly who she is and know all about her, so I'll play it cool. Cupa spoke up shyly, "Um..I...I'm sorry. I heard there was a new human living in this area and wanted to see it for myself. Hi, I'm Cupa." Cupa puts out her hand, with her head slightly tucked down into the collar of her jacket. I could sense the fear in her voice as she spoke. "You must be quite the trooper to come out in the daytime." I say with a smile and shake her outstretched hand. She loosens up a bit from her previous stiff and terrified stance. "You're not gonna attack me? You said you knew I'm a creeper." she asked with a little bit of nervousness in her voice. "Why would I attack you? You weren't planning on eating me or something, are you?" I ask with an 'I'm watching you.' face. She looks a bit ashamed that that's how humans supposedly see creepers. "It was a joke. Personally, I love creepers. Name's Jordan." I say and offer her a smile. She blushes a little and smiles back; smiles are contagious, after all. "You should stop being so nervous and smile more. You have an amazing smile." I say, causing Cupa to blush and shrink further into her jacket.

I start to walk back to where I was mining trees earlier and, as expected, a curious Cupa follows me. "So I assume humans are rare in Minecraftia." I half-ask on the way back. "Yeah. It's said that humans used to come to Minecraftia normally, but once my friends and I started being born, Notch sealed off the Gateway from all but a select few. Every few years there are sightings, but sightings of only three different humans have ever been reported, including you. Oddly enough, only male humans are said to ever have made it to or through the Gateway, even when it was open publicly. Normally the human kills whatever mob sees him before the mob can get back to one of us." Cupa explains. "'One of us'?" I ask. "My friends and I. We're half-human, half-mob, mostly hostile mobs. Our mobs willingly serve us, and would die for us if it made us happy." "So they worship you as sort of deities?" "More like royalty."

Once I get two full stacks of normal wood, I go back to my hut, craft a chest, and put my wood inside of it without converting it. I use my spare sticks and planks from earlier to make a wooden pickaxe. "Where are we going?" Cupa asks, curious. 'We'? "'We' are going mining. I need supplies." Apparently, Cupa's tagging along. From the position of the sun, it won't be dark anytime soon. I don't know how long we'll be mining but it'll probably be nighttime by the time we get out. I tend to get carried away and over-explore. I find a suitable entry point for a mine at the base of the hill and start digging into it. When inside the mine, the mobs leave me alone thanks to Cupa at my side. We find tons of coal and iron deposits in the mine.

I start to mine away the ground and find a wooden plank held up by some fences and covered in cobwebs. "Hey look, an abandoned mineshaft!" I say excitedly, ready to jumps into the hole. Cupa grabs my arm right as I approach the edge. "I don't think you should go in." Cupa says, looking me in the eyes, concerned. "Why not?" I say, still wanting to go in. "Because I care about you." She says a little but quieter, looking at her feet. "I'm sorry, what?" I ask, shocked. "I mean it's just that you're the first human seen in a few years and you just showed up and we can't have you dying so soon, now can we?" she says quickly, trying to recover from what she just said. She was clearly a little embarrassed by what she said, trying to cover it up like that. Normally I wouldn't let anyone stop me from doing something like this, something that I want to do. But there's something different about Cupa. She just did something that no one's ever done for me. She showed genuine concern for me, something I haven't felt since my grandmother passed away. Suddenly I just can't bring myself to jump into the hole, something I would be able to do just fine on any other occasion. "Oh...okay. I, uh, I guess we're not going in." I say, not really knowing what to do in this situation. I never realized until now, but I'm not even used to feeling others genuine care for me anymore. By now we've been in the mine for hours and have a large supply of cobblestone, iron ore, and coal. "We should probably get out of the mine now. We've been in for a while." I suggest, trying to get rid of the awkward atmosphere. "Sounds good." Cupa agrees with a smile that makes me smile in return.

By the time we leave the mine, the sun is setting. Just as I has predicted. We leave the mine and I start to walk away from the hut. "Where are we going now?" Cupa asks. To the beach. I need sand." I say, still recovering from the awkwardness from a few minutes ago. "How much do we need?" "Don't know. Guess we'll find out." I don't think I can bring myself to look Cupa in the eyes at the moment. The walk to the beach is just as awkwardly silent as the walk out of the mine. Silence isn't something that I'm either used to nor like. "So, earlier you said that you're half-creeper, right?" I casually ask, still without looking at my female companion. "Not exactly in those words, but yes." she replies. "And only male humans have the ability to pass through or even make it to the Gateway." That came out a bit more offensive than intended. "If that's how you want to put it." "So that means your mom was creeper." "Yep." "And your dad was a human." "Mhm." "Which would mean that a human man...fucked a creeper." "...Yeah..." "I don't get how anyone could do something like that. I definitely wouldn't." I say, a bit harsher than it sounded in my head. I can feel Cupa glaring at me right now. I mentally facepalm and try to recover with, "Then again...I guess a man's _needs_ would eventually come into play at some point." Whether that really helped or not, I don't know, but I feel Cupa stop glaring at me so I assume that's a good sign.

Once I gather a whole stack of sand and take it back to the hut the sun had completely set. I craft a furnace and put the sand into it with some coal. For the first time in almost an hour, I turn and look at Cupa. She looks at me as if she was waiting for this moment. "Cupa, why are you still following me?" I ask, being blunt and straight-to-the-point. "Because we're friends. We _are_ friends...right?" She looks up at me, waiting for an answer. An answer that could possibly hurt her if I don't word it right. From what she's shown in the day I've personally known her, she's a sensitive girl. Hell, I don't want to hurt her. "Well of course we're friends. I mean don't you have a home and family to go back to? Surely there's someone worried about you right now. Wondering where you are, probably thinking the human killed you when he found you." I say. "Oh yeah, I...I guess I better go." she says. Either I'm crazy or she said that with disappointment in her voice. She reluctantly opens the door and walks out. I have to make this scene better or else she might think I casted her out and don't want to see her again. "Hey." I say Just as she's out of the door. Cupa turns around and looks at me, sad. Damn, did I really have that much of an impact on her? I guess my charisma is both a blessing and a curse. "Cheer up. We'll see each other tomorrow, right?" I say with a smile I made specifically to rub off on her. Of course, she can't help but give a big smile and says, "Yeah, I guess we will." and leaves.

Once Cupa leaves I take off my glasses and outer clothing, along with my Air Force 1s and Elites. I absolutely can't sleep in jeans or socks. It's just uncomfortable. Now in my boxers and white t-shirt, I lie down on my bed. This time, I don't feel like I'm being watched and can relax. I quickly and easily fall asleep in the bed that, last night, I somehow didn't notice how comfortable it is.

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_**And chapter 3 is over with. I have no outro for you today, but thank you for reading and have an amazing day. **_


	4. Moving

_**Holy shit, it's been two weeks! Sorry for taking so long to write chapter 4. I've...been watching a lot of anime and playing Pokemon Red ._. I don't know how long it's felt like for you guys, but it's felt like an eternity for me. I've had all these ideas floating around in my head but never got around to writing them down. Even though it's late happy Independence Day for all you fellow 'Muricans. If you're watching this in another country that may have been awkward for you but whatever. I'm changing the spider's name. In chapter 2 I called her Silky; the mod has no default name for her and that's the name all the other stories I read used. I'll edit chapter 2 and make the change. From this point on, her name is Ana(like Anansi). I was actually planning on leaving the cave spider out entirely because I didn't have a name for her either, but now I've named her Ari(like "arachnid"). Skelly's name is also now Skelett(German for "skeleton") I'm editing chapter 2 and changing the names. I've droned on far too long so just enjoy the chapter.**_

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**Chapter 4: Moving**

I half-wake up lying on my left side, facing my wall. I kick off whatever portion of my red blanket, which was hanging off the side of my bed, is still covering me and try to sit up but just don't feel like it. I am many things but I am definitely _not_ a morning person. "Fuck that." I grumble and stop putting in the very little effort I was putting into getting up. I start closing my eyes again turn over from my left side, which i never got off of, onto my right. While my eyes are closing I see a face. A familiar one. I don't process what I saw until about five seconds after I close my eyes. I've only seen one face since I came to Minecraftia. My eyes snap fully open again and now I have no trouble shooting straight up. My head snaps to the right and look at the girl who was watching me sleep. "Cupa...what are you doing here?" I ask with my eyes closed and my teeth cringed, unnecessarily irritated. "Wa...watching you sleep." she replies, with a little bit of nervousness in her voice. "And _why_ were you doing that?" I say through still cringed teeth, but now looking at her, still visibly irritated. "I couldn't sleep. There was no bed for me and the dirt floor was uncomfortable. "And how am I supposed to trust you now that you broke in here while I was sleeping. How am I supposed to know that you didn't do something to me?" I slightly explode. "I...I'm...sorry." she says looking at the ground, her face reddening. Oh come on! How am I supposed to stay mad at her when she looks and like she jumped right out of a damn anime?!

My face can't help but soften as I get out of bed. I look at my clothes that were still in a pile on the ground at the foot of my bed, just as I had left them last night. But the pile looked different then it did last night. Like someone had put picked them all up, one by one, and eventually put them back. What the hell was she doing last night? "What were you doing to my clothes?" I say with a skeptical look, pointing to the pile. Cupa's face reddens again, but this time out of embarrassment. "I...I was...I was smelling them." she says, defeated. What. The. Literal. Fuck. Without another word, I put on my clothes, glasses, and backpack and walk out of the door. I can hear Cupa get up and start to follow me. As if coming into my...residence uninvited and watching me sleep wasn't weird enough, she decided to smell my clothes and now she's following me. What did I get myself into? I hope this isn't her real nature because this isn't the type of person I want around me.

I start to walk faster as an attempt to get away from my possible stalker. She just matches my pace. I eventually arrive at my destination, the beach I first woke up on, without saying a word to the creeper girl tailing me. Once there, I start looking for gravel. While doing so Cupa says the first sentence exchanged between us in about 10 minutes. "Jordan...I can explain." she says shyly, breaking our silence. "Sure, I'd just _love_ to hear it." I say sarcastically without even turning around to look at her. Kind of cold, but I can't even think of making eye contact with her at the moment. Cupa ignores my sarcasm and explains anyway. "I've never met or even seen a human before. None of the half-humans have; we're barely ever allowed out of our caves. I found you. You found me. I didn't learn much about humans and wanted to learn more and well...you know the rest. "And there's a better way to learn about someone than watching them sleep and smelling their clothes." I say, still refusing to make eye contact. "Jordan...I'm sorry." she says. The sorrow in her voice is evident and seems nearly impossible to miss. Avoiding looking at her face stops helping me stay mad at her. Just her voice makes me realize I'm being a huge dick. I sigh and say, "Fine. I can't seem to stay mad at you so I don't have a choice to forgive you." I say and look at her for the first time since we left my hut. I open my arms and she smiles widely and jumps into them, giving me a passionate hug. I get five gravel blocks and leave. No need to waste any more time here. I go back into the forest and gather more wood. bringing me to a total of six full stacks of normal wood, including what i gathered yesterday. It took hours to get it all and I had to plant a fuckton of saplings to make sure trees don't go extinct, but it happened.

Once we arrive back at the hut, I take the, now smelted, glass out of the furnace and replace it with iron ore. I craft and place another furnace to smelt the rest at the same time and get it done at once. I sit down on my bed while waiting for it to smelt. I pat the spot next to me, signalling Cupa to sit with me. She takes a seat next to me. "Y'know, you told me why you were smelling my clothes. But you never explained why you came here in the first place." I randomly say. "I had nowhere else to go." she replies, piquing my interest. "What?" I ask, confused as hell. "Once I returned to my underground cave, the King, as we call him, immediately confronted me, asking where I was, saying how much I'd worried everyone, how everyone thought I had been killed, and other stuff like that. I told him that I was with the human and he got angry. He only got angrier when I told him I'd be on a temporary leave from the 'kingdom' to observe the human. He banished me. He told me that the human would be tricking me to gain my trust, then kill everyone in the kingdom, and that I was just allowing that to happen. I said that you wouldn't do that. He flipped out and just like that I was turned into an outcast." she explains. "Who is this 'King'? Is he your dad?" I ask as a follow-up question. "No. Every human in Minecraftia is said to have been cast into the Void when we half-humans were born. Every mob, aside from the farm animals, has a leader. This leader, who normally becomes known as 'King', possesses one or more trait that's better than that of the other mobs. In the 'kingdom', as our caves soon came to be called, the King's word is final." All I can do is look at Cupa. "Wow. I didn't know mobs were that in-depth. I always just thought you guys governed yourselves, not that you had a legitimate leader. If it helps, the King was a complete asshole for banishing you. If he can't see your significance to creepers he doesn't deserve the power he has." I say. "He didn't mean to be so harsh, Jordan. He means well; he just has an odd way of showing it. When my father was cast to the Void, he took on the role of my caretaker. He was just worried and overreacted." she comments. "Well there was no need to banish you. I would never kill you and if I had tried to odds are I would've succeeded and you wouldn't have returned at all. The fact that you returned home at all shows that you're beyond capable of looking after yourself on the surface." I say with a smile. Cupa smiles back before yawning and laying her head on my chest. "You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?" I ask. "No." she says with a smile and closes her eyes and falls asleep. Looking at her just makes me tired. A yawn slips out of me and my eyelids slowly slide down.

I'm floating high in the air. No, not floating. Levitating. No, not even that. I can feel a surface underneath me but I see nothing. It feels very similar to the Gateway. When looking down I can see the ground. It's very distant and no one could ever survive a fall down to it from where I'm 'standing'. "Hello, Jordan. We've been waiting for a chance to speak to you." comes the voice of an adult, male Swede**_(the term for a Swedish person)_** from behind me. I turn around to see two people that I'd never expect to meet in person. "No way." I say as I look at the two men that stand before me. I immediately know who they are by certain features of their appearances. The man on the left wore a black coat with a black fedora and had a black short beard. The man on the right wore a green t-shirt, glasses that resembled my own, only with a thinner frame, and had long red-orange hair that he wore in a ponytail, with a matching short beard. The two hold out their hands. "We are-" started the man on the left. "Markus Persson and Jens Bergensten, better known as Notch and Jeb, the Gods of _Minecraft_. Pleasure to meet you." I interrupt and shake their hands. They look at me, surprised that I knew as much as their real names, something many _Minecraft_ players don't. "Don't get me wrong. I'm no fanboy but I know my shit." I say casually. "Now, onto business. Why did you bring me here?" I ask with my arms crossed, with a serious face. "I like this kid." Jeb, the man on the right, speaks up. I smirk at that. "We feel like you possess skills superior to the one's of anyone else that's made it through the Gateway." says Notch, the man on the left. "Like...?" I ask. "Your perception. Your intelligence. Your ingenuity. Your charisma. Your ability to take in change." Notch starts listing off various skills that I have. "I get where this is going. What do you want me to do?" I ask, and cock my right eyebrow, something I'd been known to do a hell of a lot on Earth. "There's that perception of yours." Jeb says with a smile.

"You know what? Before you get me doing shit I want answers." I say, now serious again. "Reasonable," says Notch "What do you have in mind?" "Where am I? I know it's Minecraftia, but what exactly _is_ Minecraftia?" Notch looks at Jeb, as if he were asking which of them would be the one to answer my question. Eventually, he speaks up again, "You're in a different universe than Earth. A different plane of existence. When you made it to the Gateway, the 'portal' that connects this universe and Earth, you hadn't left your plane of existence from Earth. When you first attempted to go through, nothing happened, right." "Right. I just hit it like a wall." I answer. "Exactly," he starts again "You couldn't make it through because, at the time, you didn't exist in this plane. But you created a body identical to that of your Earth one. Your mind was strong enough to materialize a body in this plane of existence and take it over, all at once. It may have seemed like nothing at the time, but you accomplished a great feat in that moment. Not many can do that." he finishes. "Ok. Next question. How many other humans are in Minecraftia at the moment." This time Jeb answers my question. "At the moment, there is only one other human here." "What happens if I die here? Do I respawn, or am I dead forever?" "If you happen to die, your mind will be transported through the Gateway and back to Earth." "That's all I got. So what do you want me for?" "We feel that only you are capable of ridding Minecraftia of its greatest threat: Herobrine." says Notch. "Done." I say quickly without a second thought. "What? Just like that?" says Jeb. "Just like that." I confirm. "You realize this won't be an easy task." "Yep." "Why are you so willing to do this without argument?" "It's sounds like fun." "You know something, Jordan? You're a real weird kid." "Thanks." "You'll need some firepower to defeat Herobrine. So we'll, as you could say, 'mod the world'. We have the power to apply mods from Earth to this world. With your intelligence, you can probably assume how." "You can access Earth through things related to _Minecraft_?" "Bingo."

"Well I've got my mods picked out." I say. "That fast?" Notch asks. "Yep. Mo' Creatures Mod, Morph Mod, Closet Mod, and MrCrayfish's Furniture Mod." I say with a straight face. The two just look at me confused, but I maintain a straight face. "How are those supposed to help you fight against Herobrine?" asks Notch. "Who said they were supposed to? Anyway, can you make them happen?" I ask. "Sure...I guess." says Notch. "Awesome." I reply. "One warning; Herobrine has the same amount of power alone as we do share. But he can only use his power if we use ours. If we do apply these mods, Herobrine will have the ability to apply the same amount of mods of his choice." Notch warms me. "Worth it." I say. "Now then. I guess we're done here. Perfect timing, too; your iron's done smelting, Jordan. And she's ready to wake up." says Jeb. The redhead snaps his fingers and whatever section of our invisible platform that was beneath me disappears and I start falling at a speed that would peel back the skin on my face if this were a cartoon. As the ground gets closer and closer and my plummet speed rises ans rises I brace myself for impact. Useless in the long run but it gives me the peace of mind that I'll survive. All I can do is look forward, which is down, as I get closer every second, until my face gets a foot away from the ground.

My eyes snap open and I sit up straight in a split second. I remember what was going on before what just happened and feel no one on my chest. I look down and see Cupa curled in a fetal position, her head resting on my lap. I can't help but smile. She looks nothing less than adorable. She starts to moan and her eyes slowly open. "Well look who's up. If you wanted to sleep on my lap, you could've done that last night. All you had to do was ask." I sat with a smile. Cupa sits up and rubs the sleep out of her eyes. Once she realizes just how she was sleeping she immediately sits up and blushes a deep red. I point to the furnaces and say, "The iron is done smelting." "Oh-um...that's...good." she says, trying to cover her red face with her green creeper hood. I grab her hood and pull it down, off of her head. "You don't have to cover your face. Red is my favorite color." I say with my smile still on my face. This just makes her blush an even deeper red.

I get off of my bed and take the iron out of the furnaces. "Cupa get off the bed." I say. She does as told. I break the bed and put it into my backpack. I do the same thing with the crafting table and furnaces. I walk outside and stack up the gravel. I break them and restack them until I get flint. I use it to craft a pair of flint 'n steel. "Jordan, what are you doing?" Cupa asks. "Moving." I say and light the base of the shack on fire. I stare at the fire blazing mound of wood with a satisfied, smug grin on my face. This is one of the times that I lose myself in the psychotic section of my mind. Honestly, I don't care. My grin grows larger as the blaze grows brighter. I even start to let out a psychotic laugh as I watch the wood burn. "Jordan, you're scaring me." Cupa's voice penetrated my brain, bringing me back to reality.

"Sorry...I, uh, lost myself in the moment. Come on. We have to make a new house. "'We'?" Asks Cupa, looking up at me with big eyes "Oh yeah." I say as I lean my head down to her and plant a passionate kiss on her lips. I could tell that she liked me since the incident in the mine yesterday. My kiss caught her off guard but she easily accepts it and kisses back. She wraps her arms around my neck and I wrap mine around her waist, pulling her closer We break our embrace when the need for oxygen overwhelms us. When I pull away Cupa Looks up at me and says, "How did you know?" "You didn't hide it very well." I say.

After that, we walk past the few wood blocks left burning, hand-in-hand. We've still got the full day ahead of us to make a home. After all, it's only noon.

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_**BOOM! And chapter 4 is over with the first kiss of the story. If any of you noticed, I edited the description for the story. Now instead of "Pairing: TBD" it says "Pairing: probable harem". I'm seeing this story as a Girls Bravo type of harem, where a lot of girls want the protagonist, but he only has his eyes set on one girl. But of course my OC Jordan isn't a little bitch and also isn't afraid to make the first move. To make up for my unexpected two-week hiatus I wrote a bit of a longer chapter. I'd like to give a quick shoutout to Son of The Herobrine for giving the suggestion to use more mods that are just for fun and not weapons or armor or anything like that. Sorry I didn't incorporate the Dimensional Doors Mod as you suggested. I just didn't find it blending well with the story.**_


	5. New Home Sweet Home

**_Muthafuckin chapter 5! Thank you for reading this far and enjoy the chapter. _**

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**Chapter 5: New Home Sweet Home**

Cupa and I walk past what some would call their official first house in _Minecraft_. But I knew that wasn't a house to me; it wasn't any more than a temporary shelter until I could build a real house. We climb down the hill the hut was located on the top of, me with more ease than Cupa; I guess she's not used to the life of an adventurer in Minecraftia. Somehow, Cupa manages to get stuck on a ledge seven blocks above the nearest block beneath it and three blocks beneath the nearest block above it. "Jump." I say to her. I can see the fear in her face. "I don't understand why you're so scared. It's seven blocks; you won't get hurt...much." I say, with a mischievous smirk creeping its way across my lips. "That's not helping!" she yells at me. I almost break out into laughter; it's oddly entertaining watching her hesitate to jump. "All right, I'll catch you." I say and hold out my arms, with the smirk remaining on my face. "Why are you smirking?" she asks, still scared. "No reason." I say, my smirk now turning into a full-on grin; I'm enjoying this way too much. I wipe the smile off my face, put my arms down, and turn around. I start walking way and say, "All right. Have it your way; enjoy the ledge." "Noo!" she screams and I hear the familiar _Minecraft_ sound of feet moving on a dirt block. Next thing I know, my face is buried in the dirt and Cupa is sitting on my back. "Sorry." she says and scurries off of my back. "Say that to my spine." I stand up and brush the dirt off of me.

After we start walking a book falls from the sky and into my hands. I stop and open the book. When I do, all it says is, "The world has been updated. Mo' Creatures. Morph. Closet. Furniture." Must have been from Notch and/or Jeb. I already knew the mods being implemented, so the other human must've gotten one as well. Soon enough we should both get another with Herobrine's mods in it. I don't know anything about being a God, but the way I see it, given this world and that the Gateway wasn't _completely_ sealed off, they probably aren't all-powerful; which means they will have to wait for their power to 'recharge', if you will. They'll be weak, and so will Herobrine when he applies his mods of choice. This way I'll have time to get ready before the time comes to fight him. In the meantime my missions are to build a suitable home and find this other human and befriend him. In this world, with the new mods it may be hard and I probably can't afford to make an enemy of him.

"What's that book say?" Cupa's voice snaps me out of my thinking state. "Nothing you need to worry about. You won't understand what it means if I you; no offense." She crosses her arms and gives me a 'no fair' face. I shrug my shoulders and give her an 'too bad' face and resume walking. We don't walk far; I find a suitable area in a section of the plains biome. "I stick my arm out into Cupa's path, signaling for her to stop walking. "Is this where we're stopping?" Cupa asks. I nod. The biome is large and has a river cutting through; it neighbors a forest biome and a snow biome so there'll be plenty of wood. About 15 blocks away from where we're standing is a natural hole leading underground. "This is perfect!" I exclaim, smiling.

I run to the river and look in. Sure enough, I see a group, not a school, of fish swimming peacefully. I quickly return to where I left Cupa standing. I take the six stacks of normal wood out of my backpack, convert five stacks into planks, and start the framework for the house in my mind. The house will be near the river bank and face away from it. The general layout for the house is two stories, three sections/rooms in each. The first story floor of the house will be one block above the ground with steps leading to a small front porch and double doors. The second story will have two bedrooms with open areas(resembling balconies) with wooden fence railings. The bedrooms will be separated by another room that acts more as a hallway and actual room; this room will a smaller balcony than the bedrooms. The middle vertical block layer of each floor will be windows. The middle room of the second floor will have a 'circular' window in the center of the front wall.

After about 45 minutes of building I finish the whole first floor of the house and am almost finished with the first bedroom of the second floor. I wipe the sweat from my forehead and lean against the railing of the bedroom. I look around and see that very close to the river bank, a bunch of dirt blocks are ablaze. "What the hell?" I say to myself, looking closer. In the center of the ring of fire is an item. I can't see it clearly from where I am but whatever it is, it's brown. I jump over the railing, six blocks to the ground; when I hit I immediately roll to avoid any damage to my legs. Once on my feet again I run toward the ring of fire. I put out the fire and see that on the ground is another book. So this is how Herobrine chose to make his delivery. I gotta say, not bad, but I expected more. I open the book and it reads, "The world has been updated. OreSpawn. Mutant Creatures. Monster Evolution. CreepyPasta." "Shit." I say and close the book. As I expected, each mod Herobrine selected was created with features that could make _Minecraft_ significantly more difficult.

I return to the unfinished house to find Cupa peacefully sleeping against one of the wooden 'support beams' on the outside of the house. I don't know when she dozed off but seeing her sleep brings a smile to face. "Almost done." I say, turning to the house. I walk inside and walk up the stairs to the second floor. Once I finish the bedroom I was working on I place my bed, walk back Cupa's sleeping body, pick her up bridal style, and put her in it. After another 20 minutes I finish building the rest of the house and now just need to furnish it. Cupa and I will share a room; with us as it is it would more logical and we would be more comfortable if both of us slept in the same room. So for now, I'll the whole house except for one bedroom and the bathroom.

I craft another bed and place it on the right side of the one that's now Cupa's. On the left side of Cupa's bed I place a bedside cabinet, which I call a nightstand. On the right side of my bed, I place the 'closet', which definitely looks more like a nightstand than anything. I open the top drawer and see my shirts and pants from Earth, neatly folded and stacked. I take out a men's tank top that says "Swag 24/7" on it. One of my favorite shirts to wear back on Earth. Personally, I don't give a shit about what it says on it; I like it because it's sleeveless and comfortable. I take off my button-down and white t-shirt and feel someone watching me; the exact same feeling that kept me awake a few nights ago. It's not Cupa; if she saw me like this, her red face would be noticeable, even with the red blanket covering her. I don't cover my bare chest though. I smirk and throw on the shirt, keeping my same black jeans on. I open the bottom drawer and see my accessories. My hats, watches, wristbands, necklaces, you name it. The first thing I take out is my Ohio State Buckeyes Soul snapback; I take it out of the drawer, adjust it, and put it on backwards. The next things are two bracelets. The first is a red and black paracord bracelet, which I put on my right wrist. The second is a black scorpion bracelet: a bracelet with a real black scorpion encased inside a chunk of clear Lucite acrylic resin, which I put on my right wrist. Next, I put on my hidden blade cross necklace, which I customized to be a breakaway necklace. After that, I take out my black stainless steel iron reaver claw; I don't put it on my finger though, instead I put it in my pocket. I then take out my black Casio: G-Shock analog and digital watch and put it on my left wrist directly below my black scorpion bracelet. Lastly, I take out my post-apocalyptic zombie bag and transfer everything from my backpack into it. While transferring everything I see a strange item in my inventory. I know I didn't craft it or pick it up, and it's _definitely_ not from any of the mods that were implemented into this world. The item is one I know from my fascination of blade weapons. This item that mysteriously wound up in my inventory is a customized back scabbard. It consists of the black leather scabbard itself, a quiver for arrows sewn on, and a strap used to wear it across your back. The scabbard is four inches wide, one inch thick, and about three and a half feet long**_(Be mature! Stop smiling!)_**, perfect to fit a _Minecraft_ sword. Inside the scabbard is a note that reads, "Take this, you'll need it. -N&amp;J" I pick up my zombie bag and put the single strap across my left shoulder and chest, letting it fall to my right side. I do the opposite with the scabbard, putting that strap across my right shoulder and chest, so that the hilt of my sword will be visible past my shoulder. I make sure that the back scabbard is on top of the bag strap.

I check my watch. **1:28 P.M.** Goddamn, there's still a lot of daylight to burn. If I'm gonna furnish the house I'll need wool for a couch. I craft a pair of shears and an iron sword incase shit hits the fan and leave the house, with Cupa still asleep upstairs. The sword is about four and a half feet long in total and pretty light in one hand. It doesn't fall into any specific category. Based on the length and weight it's mostly a longsword but probably shouldn't be wielded in one hand by a beginner. I sheath the sword and walk into the forest looking for sheep. I have two left over from earlier. Which means I need 22 more. About four sheep should do. While walking around in the forest, I hear a roar. A roar I know very well. One of my favorite big cats ever. A tiger. But this isn't a good thing; somewhere near me is a tiger that's spotted me, but I have yet to spot it. A tiger's fur pattern would stand out in a forest biome. And it'll be blocky, not very intimidating. I see a quick flash of orange and black through the trees! The way it happened reminds me of how I met Cupa. But this isn't running away; it's trying to make it's way closer. I bring my right arm up and draw my sword from my back scabbard and stand in a battle-ready stance. Suddenly, the big cat pounces! From the grass into the air in a split-second. And it isn't made of blocks; it's an Earth tiger! I'm damn near ready to pass out just looking at it. I didn't want a big spider to get near me a few days ago; there's no way I'm ready to take on a tiger! My readiness quickly fades as the big cat lands on me. It snaps its jaws shut where my head was a fraction of a second ago. My right hand is still clinging on to my iron sword and I bring my left hand onto the blade and push hard, thrusting the blade deep into the big cat's throat. I feel energy flow through my veins and up to my brain; it feels...powerful. This must be how it feels to acquire a new morph. Blood splatters onto my face and the tiger's body falls off of me, after being on the ground for a few seconds, the body begins to emit an odd vapor. It's a very, very light gray, so it's harmless to my health. As the steamy vapor continues to rise, the body disappears. This looks just like when a Titan dies in Attack on Titan and emits Titan vapor. When the death vapor clears all that's left on the ground in place of the body is a claw. I lift the flap to my zombie bag and toss the claw in. I get up off of my back and starts walking again. Eventually I come across another plains area. Not just any plains though, a pasture. Sheep galore!

I walk up to a large group of sheep and begin shearing them. They don't run away, but instead are quite calm. Once I finish shearing them I end up with 35 more wool, a lot more than I needed. Guess I got carried away, not like it matters. Their wool will grow back. I walk to the river bank, cup my hands together, and dip them in. I watch the water closely and see a small, red and black fish swimming toward my hands. "Damn piranha." I mutter and grab it when it gets within range. I toss over my shoulder and it lands somewhere behind me. I raise my hands out of the water and rinse the blood from my face. I feel a slight energy surge, signaling to me that the piranha died. It didn't drop anything so I don't care. I walk down the river bank, looking for the most piranha-free spot. I find it and dive in. I swim to a group of squids and slaughter them, picking up their ink sacs. I turn around and make my way back to the house, picking up a few roses on the way.

I get back to the house and dye the wool, 12 red, 12 black. With the wool, craft two red couches and two black couches. I go to the room directly below Cupa's and my bedroom(the room I decided to make the family room) and look at it, pondering on how I should furnish it. I place the couches on opposite sides of the room, facing each other, making two 2x1 couches: one red, one black. I put blinds on the windows and place four coffee tables together to make one 2x2 coffee table in between the couches. I use the leftover wool to craft two plain white couches and place them individually to resemble lounge chairs. For now this should be good. I then go to furnish the room on the opposite side of the house. This room will be the kitchen. I line the wall with five cabinets on the layer where the wall meets the first floor ceiling. In the center of the room I place four tables to create a 2x2 table, along with two chairs on opposite ends of it. Along the the wall opposite the cabinets I place a fridge and oven. I put all of my cooked porkschops, steak, and chicken, along with some eggs I picked up, into the fridge and leave the kitchen. At the back of the room between the kitchen and family room will be the bathroom. I build walls to separate the rooms. The bathroom will only be half the size of a normal room, so I build this wall accordingly, leaving half of a room as open space . I place double doors on the bathroom wall only, leaving vertical 2x2 holes in the kitchen and family room walls. Everything that goes into a bathroom requires quartz blocks, something I don't have.

I walk outside to create anything I may want out here. I place a crafting table and get to work. I use the sugar cane I mined from when I met Cupa to craft paper, which I use to craft a book, which I use to craft a mailbox. When I craft the mailbox, it comes with a silver key on a medium length silver chain necklace. I place the mailbox two blocks to the right of the steps and put on the key necklace; by default the mailbox is locked. I craft two set of stone paths and place them in two columns, starting at the steps and going as far as possible before running out(eight blocks). I line the blocks next to each stone path with white fences. I take out any remaining bone meal I have and scatter it all over the grass blocks, instantly growing grass and flowers.

I check my watch again. **2:36 P.M.** That all took more time than I thought. I break my crafting table and walk into the house, sitting on the red couch, taking a deep breath in and out, and leaning my head back with my eyes closed. Relaxing. And it lasts a good 6 seconds, too. I'm snapped out of my relaxing by the sound of my stomach growling. I am fucking starving. I came to Minecaftia on a full stomach and the only things I've eaten since are a raw porkchop on my first day and a cooked one on my second. I have yet to eat today. I don't want chicken, steak, or porkchops. I want something new. Time for some huntin'!. On the way to the site for the new house, I picked up a bunch of drops from nighttime mobs. I craft a bow and walk out of the house, wearing the bow on my back as if I was in _Skyrim_, parallel to the back scabbard. I wander for a bit before finding three turkeys. I hide behind a tree and take out the bow I crafted minutes ago, using this time to inspect it. A long bow; a classic. Some people don't know just how many varieties of bows there are, and how to _properly_ use them. This particular type of bow doesn't shoot with nearly the same velocity as more common bows, like recurve and compound ones. Without having an arrow drawn, the bow is as long as the use is tall. It also doesn't have an arrow rest for sights and is more difficult to aim than the recurve and compound. You can't have the arrow drawn for too long or else the bow will break. I pull three arrows out of the quiver on my back scabbard and put them on the ground, waiting for a good opportunity to shoot. Up until now the turkeys have been moving around too much for an easy, clean shot. Eventually, their little group begins to separate and spread out. This will make it even easier; with the turkeys spread out, hopefully, the others won't notice any one of them getting shot and run away spooked. I hold the first arrow in my hand and hold the flint arrowhead against the center of the bow. I push the bow out in front of me(holding it in my left hand), point it into the air pointing at an acute angle, pull it back toward me while pulling out the string with my right hand_**(that's the proper way to draw a long bow, not necessarily the hands, but the sequence)**_, and hold it there for a second, steadying my aim for the shot. In the drawing process, the bow is on the right side of my body. I close my left eye and narrow my right one, and then I release the arrow. The arrow shoots through the air at a speed of about 160 feet per second and lodges itself right into the nearest turkey's left temple. Needless to say, the turkey dies instantly. I repeat the process with the next two turkeys, who didn't notice their fallen brethren. I hit the second one in the neck and the third one in the eye. When the bodies sublimate**_(go straight from a solid to a gas)_**, the arrows go with them and three raw turkeys and and feather are left behind. I still have 26 arrows and should probably practice using this bow.

For the next few hours I hunt and kill as many animals as I can, using the bow whenever possible _and_ necessary. I improved my accuracy and draw speed, as well as the steadiness of my hand when holding the bow. When I got down to my last arrow I used my sword, getting used to swinging it, holding it, sheathing and unsheathing it quickly, etc. Now I can even wield it in one hand, not as elegantly as Kirito though. I hunted foxes, deer, raccoons, you name it. I even spotted and shot a few Komodo Dragons and got a Komodo Dragon egg. I found and killed a coral snake, a rare spawn, and got two coral snake eggs. Every time I killed a new animal I would feel a quick energy surge course throughout my body as their DNA enters me and begins flowing through my veins. During the hunting, I gather enough fur to make a full set of fur armor. I craft the set, but don't put it on right now. I spot a flock of random, assorted birds flying in the same direction. I also spot a lot of mice going in the same direction. I step on a white one, acquiring another morph. I follow the mice and birds to a giant creature made of oak wood. "An Oak Ent." I say, looking at it, amazed. I'm not looking for a fight with it, so I sheath my sword and refrain from chopping down any nearby trees. I pick out a bird and take out my bow. Being from Ohio, I naturally pick the red bird, a male Northern Cardinal. I draw my last arrow and take my shot, impaling the distracted cardinal perfectly through the heart and nailing him to a tree. The Ent doesn't attack though, as I didn't mine the tree. As soon as the arrow hit the cardinal I felt the DNA flow through me. I check the time on my watch. **5:47 P.M.** I need to head home soon. If Cupa awoke to me missing I would never hear the end of it. Then again, I still haven't explored that mineshaft from yesterday.

As the arrow and dead cardinal begin to sublimate, I decide to morph for the first time. I focus my mind on the male Northern Cardinal. How it behaves, how it looks, what it would be like to be one, etc. I soon feel the changes begin. The ground seemed to be rising, or I'd seemed to be falling. Fast! Oh, how fast the ground rushed up to me. Now I'm not even half a block tall anymore. In a matter of seconds I'd went from being almost six feet tall to barely being over eight inches. While I shrank my skin began to feel irritatingly itchy as my clothing melted onto my skin and it along with my brown flesh reddened and flattened out into feathers. My fingers melted together and my arms thinned out and expanded against my body, my back and wings became a slightly darker red than the rest of my body. My backside grows a lot of feathers, protruding from where a girl's tramp stamp would be. My tail is the darker shade of red on top and the bright red underneath. My entire face, starting at my eyes, excluding my nose and mouth area, and going all the way down the front of my neck to my collarbone, begins to change from a chocolatey brown to jet black. Anything above my eyes becomes a bright red. My nose and mouth merge together and start to harden and protrude from my face as well as become red, becoming the beak of the cardinal. My short, black buzzcut also turned red, as well as get longer and begin to stick up, and becomes the tuft atop the head of a cardinal. My eyes slide to the sides of my head and my eyesight improves as my ears shrink to nothing more than small, barely noticeable hole on the sides of my head and my hearing improves as well. My bones make a slight grinding noise as my anatomy changes; my bones also become hollow. The flesh on my legs seems to melt against the bone. My legs harden and became a reddish-brown color. My knees straighten out and switch. Two of my toes fuse together and my little one moves to my heel, all of them elongated and becoming razor sharp talon. None of this hurts but it all feels so weird. All the while, I felt like I could puke at any minute. I experienced multiple waves of nausea as my internal organs changed throughout the morph.

Now an eight inch tall male Northern Cardinal, I flap my red wings and take flight. I fly through the trees, just below the canopy, until I get to an area of the plains without many trees. I flap my 12-inch wingspan to gain some altitude. Instead of flying back to the house, I lose myself on the thermals and end up flying back to the old mine I started when Cupa was my tail. After about five minutes of flying I land at the entrance of the mine and demorph. Luckily, while demorphing my clothes returned. Wouldn't want to go in naked. It takes an hour to get to where Cupa and I stopped; I almost got lost three time. I jump down the hole to the abandoned mineshaft. I don't get what Cupa was so worried about. All I need to worry about is the mobs. I place torches along the wall and mine the minecart tracks as I walk. Eventually, I run out of torches, and I left the rest of my coal at home. I start to hear the hissing sound of a spider. I grip the hilt of my sword, not pulling it out, but getting ready to. As I walk, the hissing noise doesn't quiet down like I expected it to. I unsheath my iron sword and stand still, checking my surroundings. I turn around and squint, slowly making out a shape in the darkness. I hear a spider hissing and see a shape in the darkness; it doesn't take a detective to put the puzzle pieces together. "Oh, hell no! Bookin' it!" I exclaim as I quickly turn back around and take off. I run and run and run until I hit a dead end. By now my eyes have adjusted to the darkness and I can differentiate blocks from each other. I see a block of redstone ore and strike it with my sword. In the light I see what I'm faced with. This spider isn't normal. It's the size of a normal spider but has the coloration of a cave spider. "What...the hell?" I say with my back against the wall. The spider waste no time in my confusion to jump on me. It bares it's five-inch-long fangs, with some odd venom dripping off of them, and sinks them into my naked shoulder_**(some of you probably didn't care enough to remember that his shirt is sleeveless)**_ "AAAAAAAAAUUUUUGGH!" I howl in pain. Before I can think to do anything else, everything fades to black.

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**_Holy shit, man. 5,000 words in this chapter. Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Shit actually happens soon. That morphing scene was fucking hard to make. Now I know how it would've felt to be K.A. Applegate. I'll probably only do that for the first time Jordan morphs a mob. And it'll only be if I choose to. The way I'm picturing this, the only thinga in this world that are blocky are the placeable blocks/items and the vanilla mobs, including villagers. This means that any tool, weapon, armor, mod mob, or even food(besides cake) looks the way it would of it were in the real world. If you're wondering why I know so much about bows, I've always been morof a bow person than a gun person. I could tell you about bows all day but I couldn't differentiate two guns to save my life. Stay tuned for the next chapter. Review, follow, favorite, Whatever. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. Do whatever the hell you want if you're not being a dick about it. Anyway, have a great day._**

**_For a visual of the house Jordan builds Google "planet minecraft 1st wood house" and click the first result. I tried to put a link but it kept fucking up when I hit save. I do change the house in the story a bit from the pictures. Instead of the middle section downstairs being so much smaller and lead out of the back of the house, the space that would be wasted will be the bathroom. And the connecting upstairs middle portion will just be added on to that part of the house._**

**_KTHXBAI_**


	6. Superstitions and Suspicions

_**Wassup everybody? I'm back with another chapter for you. This is the chapter where shit actually happens. A big thank you to those of you who've reviewed, followed, and favorited up to this point. It means a lot to me to see that you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Thanks for reading. Enjoy the chapter. You guys get the message. And since I haven't said this in a while: all standard disclaimers apply.**_

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**Chapter 6: Superstitions and Suspicions**

"Ugh." I groan as I slowly open my eyes. "What the hell? The room is...upside down?" I say to myself as I manage to groggily open my eyes and look around the inverted room I'm in. "No...of course the room's not upside down. That's too stupid." I say as my brain wakes up with the rest of me. A quick wave of warmth courses through my body as my body quickly adjusts to the room temperature and I feel another presence near me. Wherever I am, I'm hanging upside down. I try to move my arms but they barely budge. I look up at the rest of my body to see it suspended from the stone ceiling, tightly wrapped in webs starting at about my collarbone. I struggle a little more and realize that I can't move my left arm at all, not because it's too tightly wrapped, but because it's completely numb. I look to my left shoulder, where the big cave spider bit me earlier, and see the wound bandaged with cloth-like webs. My chest isn't too tightly wrapped. Whoever kidnapped me wants me alive; they wrapped the webs around my chest loosely enough to give my lungs enough room to expand so that I can breathe. Considering that I was captured by a spider and am wrapped in webs, I have a good feeling I know who my kidnapper is. I try to focus my mind on morphing to a coral snake, but quickly realize how lightheaded I am. "How long have I been hanging?" I think out loud.

"Just over five hours." answers the voice of a teenage girl. Not Cupa's voice, but one I'm probably gonna here more of after tonight. "Five hours?!" I echo the voice in disbelief. If I'd had a brain aneurysm I'd be dead. "Yep." says the girl, stepping into my field of vision. Standing before me is a tomboyish teenage girl. She has long purple hair that reaches a bit past her pelvis, tied into a ponytail and a black headband with four red beads**_(If any girls are reading, feel free to correct be on that; frankly, I don't know what the fuck those things are)_** atop it, two large, two small. She has a gray, hoodless jacket with two black stripes on each upper and forearm. She wears _very_ short black shorts with gray and black striped thigh-high stockings, along with black and gray sneakers. She has red eyes that look like they could read into your soul. The odd thing about her is that she's holding an iron sword in her hand. My iron sword.

"Considering that you're trying to keep me alive, you're really half-assing it letting me hang for so long." I say to her. "Whatever." she says, pretending not to care. For now I won't tell her that I noticed in her voice that she just realized I could be dead. She tried to hard to hide it. She walks to the nearest wall, dragging the tip of my sword along the ground on the way there. "Is that supposed to intimidate me or something? Show me that you're dangerous?" I say with a smirk and raise my right eyebrow. She glares at me and uses my sword to cut a few thick strands of webbing tied to some iron bars. Once she cuts all the way through, I see the ground rush up to me as I fall. I land on my back but don't get the wind knocked out of me as I expected. My silk cocoon cushioned the fall. I look towards my feet and see a long web 'tail'. I then look at the part of the ceiling where I was suspended and see a few iron bars that I assume the tail of my cocoon was laced through. A makeshift pulley system. "You've caused quite the stir in the mob kingdom, you know." begins the spider girl. "Explain." I say. "Another human showing up here, according to our Kings, is 'nothing but trouble,'" she begins but I interrupt her. "No offense, but I don't care. You should just get to the point, before you lose my attention." I say. She gives an annoyed look and crosses her arms, before starting up again. "Very well then. The point is that the Kings are losing their hold on us half-humans. We're all 'going crazy over this new human', as the Kings have said. We half-humans that know about you all want you. To marry you." she says, piquing my interest and making my mind go blank from shock at the same time. "You see, we can't continue our human bloodline with mobs. If we were to mate with our designated mob species, as our Kings want us to, the mob DNA would overwrite the human DNA in us and the resulting offspring would be a mob." She goes on. So Cupa's only using me so that I eventually impregnate her? Is her personality nothing more than a facade? Had her stopping me from going into the mineshaft nothing more than a successful atempt to stop a differ human-mob from getting into my pants before her? Great, now I wish I never did jump down that hole; that way I wouldn't know all of this. "Why do the Kings not want more human-mobs?" I ask. "Who knows? Or cares? It's not what _we_ want. Word is that Cupa ran away to elope with you." she says. "That's not the case." I reply, now knowing that it just might actually be. "You know, you briefed me in before even telling me your name. Seems pretty unprofessional to me." I say. "It's Ana." she replies. "Mine's Jordan." I say back. "You stay here; I'll be back." says Ana, walking towards the empty doorway to this room "Not like I can go anywhere else." I say with a provocative smile on my face. "Hmm. You know what, Jordan? I like you." Ana says with an amused smirk. "Hard not to." I reply. Ana walks out. A few seconds later the spider that bit me hours ago appears in the open door way; in its eyes I see curiosity, fear, and caution. I shoot it a vengeful glare and it bolts out of the doorway, terrified. Recalling my encounter hours ago, I can't help but smirk at the sheer irony of what just happened.

I look around the room as much as possible while lying down, barely able to move any part of my body below my neck, and see my gear, excluded my iron sword, in the corner farthest away from me. My zombie bag, bow, and empty back scabbard sit in a sloppy pile. Upon closer inspection of the room, it appears to be Ana's bedroom. I can see a hammock made out of webs hanging between two walls, right above a furnace and a chest that I don't really care about the contents of. I also notice that the floor is actually made of cobblestone, as opposed to the smooth stone ceiling. I scoot my way to the wall behind me, with the iron bars on it. I sit up and lean against the sharp edge of one of the bars. I slump against the edge, cutting my cocoon down the back. I slip out of it and stand up. "Well that was easy enough." I think out loud.

I walk to the corner with my gear and kneel in front of the pile, looking over what I can use to get out of here. My stomach growls furiously, reminding me of my serious hunger. I should've eaten those turkeys earlier, but I wasn't eating them raw. In this state I won't be able to swing anything, whether it be a sword, pick, or even a shovel. I could try to sneak out using my bow, if I had arrows. I check the furnace for coal to cook the turkeys. Empty. Son of a bitch. I open the chest and see three baked potatoes. It would be completely justified to say that, at the moment, I feel like Sasha Braus. I devour the potatoes like a starved wolf would its prey. I return to the pile and open the flap on my bag with my right hand, the feeling hasn't returned to my left. Any sword or tool that was inside of it is gone "Luckily, nothing useful's in here." I say sarcastically.

"Well aren't you a handful, Jordan?" comes Ana's voice behind me. Well shit. Time to improvise. "Funny, my mom always used to say the same thing." I say standing up and looking at Ana, not at all trying to hide the fact that I'm trying to escape. "You broke out and managed to scare Kumo. Looks like you need a punishment." she says. So that big cave spider's name is 'Kumo', Japanese for 'spider'. Prettty cliché if you ask me, but it could still be more cliché; it could be her Ana's name. I see Ana take something out of her pocket and slip it onto her left index finger. My iron reaver claw. Damn. "Looks like you didn't half-ass stripping me of any possible weapon." I say. Ana lunges at me and swipes at my chest. I sidestep to my left and grab her right arm at the wrist, catches her as she stumbles and starts falling to the ground. She uses me as an anchor to regain her composure and swipe at me again. I don't try to avoid it and keep my grip on Ana's wrist. The claw makes a diagonal two-and-a-half inch long cut on the right side of my face from my ear to my cheek. It stings badly, but I simply ignore the pain. According to something I once saw on the internet, I'm good at seducing. Flirting and seducing have never been something I did. If I liked someone I would just tell them. I never considered myself sooth or a ladies' man, but I guess this is as good a time as any to test that theory. I pull Ana's arm, spinning her around and pulling her to me. I let go of her wrist and wrap my one good arm around her, pulling her closer. "Why do we have to fight?" I speak gently into her ear. For a split-second I got a glimpse of her face. Her eyes are wide with surprise and her cheeks are almost as red as her eyes. I seem to be doing a good enough job. I start to feel a tingling sensation in the fingertips of my left hand. I wrap my barely-wake left arm around Ana as well, pulling her even closer. At this point, she pushes away from me, now blushing even an even deeper red. Just like that, I broke her. Ana starts to back away, but I just move towards her with a seductive look in my eyes and a smile to match it. I'm not serious about my actions, but right now I need to play with her mind enough to convince her to let me go.

"W-what are you doing?" Ana stutters nervously, her back now against the wall. I dominantly place my hands on either sides sides of her, pinning her to the wall without even making contact with her. Now I'm in her brain and there's no way she can escape me. "Just trying to...get to know you." I say trailing my finger down her body with the seductive look remaining on my face. This face seems to be pretty effective against her, I'll remember that incase I need to use it on her again for whatever reason. "C'mon, Ana. Don't act this isn't what you wanted." I say cupping her left cheek in my right hand. I should start toning it down soon, or else I'll dig myself a hole too deep to escape from. "I-I wasn't really planning on...d-doing anything." She stutters and blushes more, starting to twirl her purple hair with her finger. I have to admit, this side of Ana is kind of cute. "Does anyone in the kingdom know that I'm here?" I ask. "N-not really, besides Kumo." she says. "So why take the risk of being caught with me and getting in trouble? Why not just...let me go?" I say with a smile so warm it could melt ice. I've lain down the trap. Now all she has to do is step on it. "Well...I _guess_ I could." She says, twirling her hair around with her finger. Trap. Sprung. "Then let's do that." I say, leaning in until Ana's face is only inch away from mine."

She walks to the nearest her hammock and pulls a thin smooth stone panel out of the wall, revealing a one block space with a lever in it. Ana pulls the lever and I hear the familiar sound of pistons. The wall opens to reveal a vertical 2x2 hole and a tunnel. A secret passage; that explains how she managed to have have Kumo bring me here unnoticed. "I found this passage a few years ago and it's been Kumo's and my secret ever since." she says. "Here. These are yours." Ana gives me every weapon and tool that I was stripped of, including the iron reaving claw. "Thanks." I say with a smile. "Do you really have to go?" She asks sadly, wrapping her arms around my torso in a passionate embrace. Ana now is completely different than the one I woke up to. Once you crack the tomboy shell, girl oozes out. "I can't just live in here forever." I claim, returning her hug. Hearing that, Ana just hugs tighter, not wanting to lose me after getting so close.

I walk alone through the secret passage and eventually come back to the surface. The opening is blocked my a single layer of dirt blocks. When I break through the dirt blocks I realize I'm on the edge of a forest biome, facing a hill. Weird. This hill is familiar. "If I didn't know better I'd swear this hill is...the same one my hut was on." I say, slowing down as I see three random wood planks on the ground in no specific order. Fire in _Minecraft_ never seems to completely do the job. So _this_ is where the tunnel leads. And this is why is why I couldn't sleep on my first day here. Ana was watching me. Great. "Who else watches me sleep?" I think out loud. As if I'd actually get an answer.

I make my way down the hill. "Shit. How late is it?" I continue to think out loud as I look down at my watch. **11:23 P.M.** "I need to get home. Fast." My cardinal morph won't help much with navigating at night. If only there were owls in the Mo' Creatures mod. I'm knocked out of my thoughts when bump into something and fall backwards on my butt. I look up to whatever I hit to see a long white, pink, and black muzzle in face. The animal the muzzle is attached to is a white horse. The horse gently nudges it's muzzle against me a few times. It doesn't appear to be standing in a broad, high-and-mighty manner, so it's probably save to assume that it's a mare and not a stallion. She has a long, golden mane and a matching tail. I rub the crest of her neck and she neighs sweetly. I take to apples out of my bag and feed them to her. She becomes more and more gentle. She's not tamed yet, but she doesn't run away. I place a crafting table and make a crafted saddle, which comes with a bridle. I put the saddle and bridle onto the mare; she accepts them easily and I mount her.

I start to ride the mare back to the house. Once we reach the forest biome between the mine and my house she stops in her tracks, neighing furiously and rearing up on her hind legs and causing me to fall off of the saddle. She looks around cautiously. "What's got you so spooked?' I say, standing up. I realize what she notice after hearing an eerie moan. I look towards the source of the sound and see two glowing red eyes not two far away. I look harder at them and the eyes quickly rush at me. Once out of the cover of trees and in the moonlight, I see the wraith charging at me. I quickly unsheathe my sword and stick it out in front of me. The wraith impales itself on it. I rip the sword upward through the wraith's body and it lets out an agonizing cry of pain before disappearing in a puff of white smoke. Behind me I hear the sound of quick feet running across the ground, almost flitting. I barely turn around in time to see a skeleton wearing silver armor charging at me with dual silver swords. I dodge the skeleton only for it to almost immediately spin back around and attack again. The son of a bitch is fast. I can't fight it like this. I'm at a big disadvantage considering his speed and dual-wielding. I hop back on the back of my tamed white mare, holding my iron sword in my right hand and grabbing the reins with my left. I flick the reins like a whip and the mare takes off. As expected, the silver skeleton follows us at a steady speed. Not as fast as us, but close. I turn the mare around when we get a reasonable distance away. When we get close to the skeleton I hold out my sword and make a single slash, decapitating him.

I ride to the house to find Cupa sitting on the porch waiting for me. I ride up and slide out of the saddle. "Jordan! Oh thank Notch! I didn't even want to _think_ about walk could have happened to you." Cupa exclaims and jumps at me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. I don't return the hug though, remembering what Ana said about in the cave. "Jordan...is something wrong?" Cupa asks sweetly, looking up at me. If this all an act, she's doing a damn good job. "Oh my Notch, your face! What happened?!" she says frantically, looking at the cut on my face that's still leaking out a little bit of blood. I don't answer but instead grab her shoulders and pin her back against the wall. "Cupa, do you love me?" I say seriously, looking deep into her eyes. "Of course I do." she says, squirming uncomfortably under my gaze. I let her go and walk back to the horse without saying a word, my serious expression not changing. "That's a nice horse. What's his name?" Cupa says kind of awkwardly. "_She_ doesn't have a name. I didn't give her one." I correct her. "Why not?" she asks I shrug, giving the mare a few apples. "Jazzie. That's her name." I say, suddenly. "Why Jazzie?" Cupa asks. I simply shrug again. I start to place wooden planks and fences around Jazzie until an adequate stable forms around her. I then replace the wooden double doors with iron ones with buttons to open them. "What are you doing?" "Fortifying." "Why?" "Precautionary measures. Don't worry about it." Truth is, I'm horrified of sleeping tonight. With creepypastas roaming around and me being off my guard, I'm barely even willing to go to sleep tonight.

Next I walk upstairs to Cupa's and my bedroom and start using cobblestone to wall off the area that's left open. "What are you doing all this for?" asks Cupa, confused. I still haven't made eye contact or even looked at her since right before making Jazzie's stable. I just can't look her in the eye after what I learned. I finish the wall and put a single wooden door. I can't afford for either Cupa or me to sleep in open air. Jeff the Killer, Eyeless Jack, and the Rake can probably ignore the sleeping barrier like it's nothing; their creepypastas are famous for taking place when the victim is sleeping or barely awake. The wall keeps out Mothman, who can fly. Though they won't seem like it, they are nothing more than mobs and probably can't open doors. Even if they can, Mothman is too wide to make it through the door I'm pretty sure Jeff and Jack can't climb to the second floor. Hopefully. The only real threat would be the Rake. It could probably climb up using its claws. In that case, if the door didn't keep it out, Cupa and I are thoroughly _fucked_. Maybe no creepypastas will show up at all tonight, but you can never be too cautious.

I lay down in my bed, next to Cupa's. She tries to snuggle with me, but I don't even react. I don't even care. I just stare up at the celing, trying to fall asleep. Thinking about a creepypasta before falling asleep is nothing compared to the possibility of them actually showing up. I want to just embrace Cupa in my arms and fall asleep. It would be more for me than for her. She probably doesn't even know about the mods. But I still have the suspicion that she's using me and cant even bring myself to look at her. "Jordan...are you okay?" Cupa's worried voice breaks my concentration. I look at her for the first time in 10 minutes. When I do the look on her face is similar to the one she gave me back at the mine, but more worried and less embarrassed to show her worry. You know what? Fuck it! I need the comfort. I grab Cupa and hold her against me tightly, not willing to let her go no matter what. Her warmth against me calms me down and let's me slip into a trance-like half-asleep state. I hear something on the outside of the house but am too relaxed to care about it. My eyelids start to feel as if they're made of lead and I quickly lose the strength to hold them up, falling into a deep sleep.

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_**Well that's it for this chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed. Sorry for taking so long. I meant to post this a few days ago but it wasn't finished. Then I meant to post it sometime earlier today but I forgot. Thank you for reading; I really appreciate it. Favorite. Follow. Review. Whatever. Doesn't matter to me as long as you enjoyed reading. I'm expecting to make this a long story so there are high odds this'll overlap into the school year; so once that time comes, don't be surprised when I end up posting a lot less. Like I said, I'm expecting this story to be long, so if you have any suggestions, say them in a review. If I use them(and I probably will) I'll give you a shoutout. Remember, I'm a newbie; I'm always accepting new ideas, tips, advice, and other shit. My birthday is in exactly two weeks so I'll probably pull a reverse birthday and give you guys a new chapter as a "present". I've talked for way too long. Thanks for reading and good night to all you Americans or have a great day to all you foreign readers.**_


	7. Shadow

**_With the way my mind's going right now, this story will probably be changed to rated M later on. So...expect that I guess. Making a legit relationship is bound to be too hard with how I've made the story go so far. From now on it's a normal harem. Enjoy the chapter._**

**_All standard disclaimers apply._**

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**Chapter 7: Shadow**

I slowly let Cupa out of my embrace and begin to open my eyes only to see something that nearly makes my heart stop. When I built the bedroom I made it using windows as a light source instead of torches, and the blinds on the windows are closed. So it's kind of dark in the room at the moment. In front of me I see a silhouette standing in front of my bed, watching me sleep. My eyes snap open and I jump out of bed, pouncing on who or whatever was staring at me. I end up on top of the figure with a moderately loud thud. I use my knees to hold its legs down and my arms to hold its arms down, pinning it to the ground.

"You really love being dominant over me don't you?" Says a very familiar voice that's both a relief to hear and makes me a little uncomfortable. ""What the fuck is wrong with you Ana?! You gave me a damn heart attack!" I yell at my newest ally. Ana just smirks at me. "Jordan? What are you doing?" says Cupa behind me. Of course she woke up with all the noise I just made. She just had to wake up with me in this position. "Hi Cupa." Ana waves to Cupa as if I weren't on top of her pinning her down. I stand up and hold out my hand for Ana to pull herself up. She accepts I hold out my hand to pull her up. She accepts and says, "You're really easy to scare. I hope you know that." "It's not _you_ that scared me. It's what I thought you were." I say. I guess I lucked out today. She could have been the Rake, Jeff the Killer, or Eyeless Jack. At least she didn't kill me in my sleep. "_Suuuure_. And just what did you think I was?" says Ana, not believing me. "An eyeless, freakish nocturnal murderer. A psychotic, creepily grinning nocturnal murderer. A genetic mystery that-you guessed it-is a nocturnal murderer. Really any of those three choices." I reply as if saying that was a normal sentence in my life. Ana just looks at me confused. "But I gotta say, well done." I say fist-bumping her with a half-smile that makes her smile too. "You've got quite the pair of pajamas, Jordan." says Ana, looking at my clothes, which is the exact same outfit I wore yesterday. I just now realize that I never did change out of them yesterday, excluding my bag, sword, bow, and hat. I didn't even take my shoes off.

"Um...what's going on here? You know her?" Cupa says, now out of bed and looking a bit angry and defensive. "Good to see you too, Cupa." Says Ana, crossing her arms, her smile fading away. "I met Jordan last night. He's my betrothed. From now on I'm living with him." says Ana with a smirk, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards her. "What?!" both Cupa and I say in sync. "Did I miss something last night?" I ask, pulling my arm out of Ana's embrace. "Did _you_ miss something?!" Cupa explodes_**(No pun intended)**_. "What were you two doing last?!" She continues. "Oh it was horrible! He forced me down to settle his needs! No matter how much I begged, he wouldn't stop until he was satisfied!" says Ana. "Are you fucking serious?! That is complete bullshit!" I yell at Ana, who is now smirking again. Cupa looks at me, red from anger. "You know what? Fuck this shit. I'm out." I say, putting on my gear that I didn't have at the moment And walk to what now is no more than a balcony that doesn't hang off of the side of the house.

Once I get tone railing I jump over. Taking the stairs down is overrated. I proceed to Jazzie's stable. At least she's safe and didn't get attacked by anything. "Morning girl." I say with a smile and run my hand along her mane. Jazzie neighs happily. Animals have always naturally liked me. I feed her the last two apples I have on me. "Looks like we're all out, girl." I say to Jazzie. I plan on getting a horse better than a simple mare. I already got a normal horse. Second step is getting a zebra.

I walk back inside and craft another crafted saddle. I walk through the forest biome separating my house and where I met Jazzie. I make my way through the biome and am surprised to see not a zebra, but a fire ogre. The fire ogre seems to be distracted by something. It's chasing something something I can't see, setting blocks on fire in the process. I get a good feeling about what it's chasing. I've never seen an ogre kill a wild animal. I pull of my bow and draw an arrow. I release the arrow and it shoots at the ogre and buries itself in the back of the ogre's neck. It falls onto one knee and I take the chance to put away my bow and draw my sword. I charge toward the stunned ogre and realize that it radiates heat. It's actually kind of hard to breathe while being this close to the ogre. I swing my iron sword and decapitate the blazing monster in one swoop. I close my eyes and cover my face as a blast of hot air and steam is expelled from the large wound. It feels the same as opening an oven while it's cooking, except three times as hot and with steam.

I don't get why whoever was getting chased couldn't kill this. "Newbie." I mutter as the hot steam disperses. I open my eyes and look at the ground where a rather large body just was. I see a fire 'block' and a heart of fire. I pick them both up and put them in my bag. I look up in front of me and my jaw drops to the ground.

"Holy shit. No way!" I say in shock as I look at the person in front of me. A smile spreads across my face as I look at the familiar and relieving face. "Jordan?!" says Jason, someone I actually know from Earth. He's a 5'10" white guy with slightly unkept dirty blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes. His hair reaches down to the back of his neck. He's wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans with worn gray sneakers that I can't really determine the brand of anymore. "Well I guess 'newbie' did fit the description." I tease with a smirk on my face. "Good to see you too, Jordan." Jason smiles at me. We do the universal guy handshake that just about every male in the universe knows. "What are you doing here, man?" He asks. "I could ask the same to you." I reply. "What's with the noob status?" I ask. "I didn't expect to see that thing." Jason says, scratching the back of his neck. "What do you mean? You didn't get a book?" I ask, slightly perplexed. "No." he says. "When did you get here?" "Like five minutes ago." Looking closer at Jason, from the looks of it he doesn't have any gear. Right now all I can do is take his word for it. Which means...there's still another human.

For the next 15 minutes or so I continue looking for a zebra while filling Jason in on what's happened so far. "You can live with us if you want." I say. "Isn't that kind of gay?" Jason looks at me. "Only if you make it gay. I choose to think of us like Anthony and Ian." I reply. "You know what? I'll take you up on that offer. Saves me the trouble of building my own house." "Yeah. It would've turned out shit anyway." "Fuck you!" Eventually I find a zebra. "Finally! It's been like forever!" Jason whines. "And why did you stick with me?" I ask, giving the zebra a bunch of apples I got while searching and then slipping the saddle and bridle on him. I hop on the zebra's back.

Jason tries to get onto the zebra's back too but I push him off. "What the hell was that for?" Jason says angrily, picking himself up off of the ground. "Living in the same house is nothing. But both of us riding the same horse, or in this case zebra? Now _that_ is gay." I tell him. "Well how do you propose I get to the house?" He asks. "Keep up!" I say, taking off on the zebra toward the house. "You dick!" comes Jason's voice behind me.

I stay slow enough for Jason to be able to see me, but too fast for him to keep up very well. I reach the house with him about 45 seconds behind me. "See? You made it just fine." I smirk. "I fucking hate you." Jason gasps for oxygen. "No you don't." I say and put the zebra into the stable with Jazzie. "From now on your name is Calvin." I tell the zebra. "Why Calvin?" asks Jason, still hunched over trying to breathe. "Because fuck the system!" I say. "What?" Jason asks. I walk into the house without answering Jason, something he's very familiar with when it comes to me. "I'm back! With a guest!" I yell upstairs to the girls.

I walk up the stairs to my room to see Ana and Cupa on opposite sides of the room giving each other death stares, like two dogs being held back by their owners. About half of a second later Ana pounces on top of me. "Jordan, honey, you're back! Oh, I missed you _so so so_ much!" She says hugging me tight and giving a devilish grin to Cupa, who just reddens in anger and probably envy. "Quite the life you've got here." says Jason behind me. I cant help but smirk, not teasing him for not being in my situation, but because at this point in my life smirking is just how I smile most of the time.

i manage to peel Ana off of me and stand up. "Girls, this is Jason; he'll be living here from now on." I introduce my friend. Cupa and Ana give not-so-amused faces. "Wow, such a warm welcome." Jason says, addressing the slightly awkward situation. "Don't take it personally, man. They've both fallen in love with me; you don't have a chance with either." I say, kind of teasing him. "Hi Jason, I'm Cupa." Cupa smiles and shakes Jason's hand. "Ana." says Ana unenthusiastically. "What's with her?" Jason whispers to me. "You gotta chip away at her. Knowing you're definitely no lady's man, you'll probably never get through her." I whisper back.

I destroy the wall and door I added to the bedroom last night and jump over the edge. I walk to the stable and give Calvin and Jazzie each a bowl of mushroom stew. They look at each other with what I can only assume is lust. I turn around; horse sex isn't exactly something I would choose to see. After about a minute they calm down. Damn, they really went at it. I turn back to see the two standing with a zorse colt. "Your name is Shadow. Got that?" I say to the colt as if he would actually nod back. He just neighs energetically, showing that he likes the name. I walk back into the house upstairs and use the heart of fire and placeable fire, along with a glass bottle, to craft an essence of fire, which I store in a chest.

Next I do probably the most boring thing you could ever do in the Mo' Creatures mod. I go outside and place a torch with the three eggs I got yesterday around it: one Komodo Dragon and two coral snake eggs. I sit down in front For the few hours I sit there, waiting for the eggs to hatch. At about four hours of waiting I'm bobbing in and out of consciousness.

Something cold lands on me and I quickly snap back awake. The sun's starting to set. I look behind me and see Ana holding an empty bucket, smirking. She poured water on me. "What the hell?!" I yell at her. "You looked so cute when you were sleeping. Then I got this idea and couldn't resist." she says with an indescribable charm. My frown quickly disappears. I can't stay mad at her; she's just like I was in my early teens and still am now. "Well done. You got me." I say with an amused half-smile on my face. "How're you getting along with Jason?" I ask. "He's okay, I guess. Not as amazing as you." she says, looking at me seductively. "You can only say that because I managed to get to a peek at the you no-one else knows about." I say. She just blushes.

I take my shirt off, making Ana blush even more. "What are you blushing so hard for? You can't tell me you didn't see this coming." I cock an eyebrow. "Weeeeell..." Ana says, looking at my six-pack and biting her bottom lip. "Don't get carried away in your thoughts. I'd prefer to not be molested." I say, throwing my shirt at her playfully.

I'm surprised to hear a cracking sound. I turn to the eggs to see at least one crack in each of them. "They're hatching!" I say, probably more excited than I should be. But fuck it; I love animals. The egg shells crack open and a small reptile crawls or slithers out of each of them. I feed the Komodo Dragon a raw turkey and give the snakes each a raw rat.

I pick up both coral snakes and walk toward Ana, holding them as if I was gonna throw them on her, getting an amusing scream and a stinging slap from her. "I regret nothing." I say holding my cheek. "Guys! We have pets!" I yell upstairs as I walk into the house with my tail of reptiles.

"Have you completely lost your sanity?! What type of person would ever have a pet that could kill him?!" Jason yells at me. The situation is kind of odd considering I have too look down a little bit to look him in the eyes. "What is this 'sanity' you speak of?" I ask. "You are gonna die in your sleep. You're gonna get eaten by your scaly little monsters." he says. "Fuck you, they're awesome!" I yell at him. "I'm not dealing with this!" says Jason as he goes to the empty bedroom upstairs. It was established that would be his. I take off everything that I'm not going to wear to sleep and put it all right next to the bed. I lie down and close my eyes, quickly falling into a deep slumber.

The next week or so was nothing more than going out adventuring as much as possible, getting as much as possible to make Shadow into a Dark Pegasus. This was my plan ever since I met Jazzie and is why I named the colt Shadow. Eventually I get everything need for the complete transformation. At this point Shadow is no longer a colt, but a stallion_**(Because **_**Minecraft**_** animals mature fast as fuck)**_ Cupa, Ana, Jason, and I wait until the sun sets to start. First I feed Shadow an essence of darkness. A few seconds after he drinks the whole bottle his body starts to turn jet black, starting with his head, then moving down his neck and spreading all throughout his body. He grows two large black bat wings on each side of him. I then put a crafted saddle on his back and mount him. "You ready, boy?" I ask. He exhales hard, blowing air from his nostrils. "All right. Hyaah!" I say as I crack the reins like a whip. Shadow starts to run, gradually picking up speed. Once he reaches what I assume is his top speed, we start to leave the ground. He easily gets the hang of flying, but I repeatedly almost fall off. Once we get just above the cloud level I pull out an essence of light with one hand, careful not to drop it, and hold the reins with the other. I pull the cork out with my teeth and spit it out. Then I carefully lean forward, bring the neck of the bottle to Shadow's lips, and tilt the bottle back until it's empty. Almost immediately, his body is shrouding in a brilliant white light, stunning me and almost causing me to stagger and almost fall off. I cover my eyes with current free hand until the light disappears. His wings had gone from bat wings to that of a bird or angel. I fly Shadow back to the ground and we land. I then feed him another essence of darkness, the last thing needed to complete the transformation. His entire body, which, was completely snow white, is flooded with a blackish-red color, like nether brick but a little darker. His eyes become red as well.

I feel another pair of eyes watching us from somewhere and I look around. I bolt into the trees in the direction of two glowing purple eyes. I half-expect them to disappear as the Enderman warps away, but they don't. I tackle the source of the eyes. Upon looking down at who I'm on top of, I see a tall girl with long brown hair and bright purple eyes. She wears a black jacket with a large collar, like a turtleneck but even bigger, a relatively short black skirt with black garters, and stockings and black tennis shoes. "Spying is rude, you know." I say getting off of her. I help pull her up and upon doing so, realize that she's 5'11" just like me. "Name's Jordan. You're talk just like me so I can we're gonna get along just fine." I say, offering her my hand. She shakes my hand and says, "I'm Andr. I'm surprised you didn't attack me." "Aside from tackling you just now, why would I? I support the dark and mysterious." I say, bringing a smile to her face that ends up bringing one to mine as well. "You're not normal, are you?" asks Andr. "'Normal'? I've never been more insulted in my life!" I say, making her smile even more. "It's rare to find find someone my height." Andr says as we walk to the house. "Same." I reply. That is true; I've always been taller than most people, including everyone in my family, an oddity considering that I'm the second youngest.

I emerge from the trees with Andr behind me. "Jordan, you need to start telling us when you feel shit, man. Otherwise you just look weird." Jason says. "I think it's been established already that I'm far from normal," I say "Anyway, this is Andr. I'm sure you girls already know her but you probably don't, Jason. "Great, now I feel like the one guy at the party who doesn't know anybody." he says and crosses his arms.

Later that night, while everyone else is sleeping I hear the doors open downstairs. I rush down and see Andr halfway out the door. "Hey! Where are you going, Andr?" I ask. "She looks at me with her usual unamused expression and shrugs. "How do you not know? Don't you have a home?" I ask. "A...home? Not really. I don't really belong _anywhere_. I just drift in and out of places, wherever the wind takes me, you know?" she says. "That doesn't sound like much of a way to live. From now on you live here. This is your home." I say, dominantly. She just looks at me for a while before cracking a smile. "Thanks." she says and walks up to me, giving me a hug. I return the hug and Andr takes the chance to kiss me. She plants her lips against mine and wraps her arms around my neck. As surprised as I am, I have to admit I do like it. When Andr is finished she smiles at me sweetly and blushes a little bit. "I don't have the wool to spare, so for now you'll have to sleep on the couch." I tell her. "Oh." says, a bit disappointed. She lies down on the black couch, kind of sadly. I can't leave her like this. I sit down on the couch next to her and she happily scoots up and puts her head in my lap and quickly falls asleep. After a few minutes I can't stay awake any longer and fall asleep as well.

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_**Nothing special for the outro today. Just the usual message: favorite, follow, review, do whatever you want. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Stick around for more. See you in the next chapter.**_

_**KTHXBAI**_


	8. Reunited

_**Welcome back. Thanks for getting this far and enjoying the story. This chapter kind of changes the harem a bit. It yet again shifts. This time from a normal harem to a Rosario + Vampire(amazing anime btw) type of harem. This type of harem is where the protagonist has his eyes set on one girl(just like a Girls Bravo harem), the others know this, yet they take it as competition and try harder to pursue the protagonist. If any of you don't understand that, it'll make sense once you get used to it. Enjoy the chapter.**_

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**Chapter 8: Reunited**

"Son of a bitch."

"He's got another one."

"I don't like the looks of this."

I open my eyes to see Cupa, Ana, and Jason standing in front of me. Jason crosses his arms and says, "Well look who's up." "Guys? What's going on? Oh my God, is this an intervention?! I'm not addicted! Shut up! Who told you?!" I yell at them. "What are you talking about?" Jason says. "Good question. I'll let you know when I find out." I say and stand up, forgetting about the tall girl sleeping on my lap. Her head falls forward and I stick my foot out behind me, catching her just as she's about to hit the ground. I put her back onto the couch with a couch pillow under her head.

I walk to the kitchen with suspicious eyes following me. I open the fridge and take out a cooked chicken and a bottle of water. I sit and the table and dig into the chicken. "So...what were you doing down here with Andr?" asks Cupa. "Sleeping." I say casually. "Alright, I'll say it! You fucking asshole!" Jason explodes. "What crawled up your ass and got you so cranky?" I ask Jason, still as casual as ever. "You just keep getting girls for yourself, don't ya? That's pretty damn selfish. Don't you think I want a girlfriend?!" he booms. "Shit happens when you fall asleep. You snooze, you lose." I smirk. I'm enjoying this jealousy. "How dare you sleep with anyone other than me?" Ana says and slaps me. I don't like the slap but I'm still enjoying this. It feels good to have someone jealous of you. I chuckle and finish my chicken. "I'm loving this jealousy. Please, keep it up." I say and craft a full set of fur armor. Up until now I've been adventuring without any armor and that's not exactly a smart thing to do with the mobs in this world.

I put on the armor and walk out the doors towards the stables. "And where the hell are you going?" Jason asks. "Exploring." I say without looking back at him. I put Shadow's saddle and bridle on him and mount him. "I don't trust this. I'm coming with. If we meet any girls on the way they're _mine_. Got it?" He says. Still not looking back I give a thumbs-up. "Me too! I'm not letting anyone else get their hands on my betrothed!" yells Ana. "Whatever." I say, having Shadow slowly walk forward. "M-me too." says Cupa shyly. "Somebody wake up Andr. I don't want her to be here all by herself."

We venture for a few minutes: me, Jason, Cupa, Ana, and groggy Andr. "Uuuuuuugh," Jason groans "This is so _boring_. Why am I here?" "I believe you all _willingly_ came with me. Except Andr, she's the only one with a pass on that." I say. "Aaaaauugh," Andr whines "I'm _tired_. Why'd I have to come?" "Because the others were being selfish." I answer. She just continues to moan and groan. I stop Shadow and look at Andr. "Get on." I tell her, holding out my hand. She accepts it and I pull her onto Shadow's back. Andr wraps her arms around my abdomen and leans on my back, either trying to go to sleep or trying to make Cupa and Ana jealous. Either way I don't mind. Eventually we find a desert biome and a village.

At this point Andr is asleep again and I'm holding Shadow's reins with one hand and holding Andr with the other. I ride Shadow past the village with the rest of the group following. I could've done the usual routine of killing anything that moved and looting anything possible but something tells me that would probably have had an effect on my relationship(s) with the girls. "Why'd we pass up a village?" Cupa speaks up. I look back to her and say, "We have no business there."

We walk (and ride) for a while longer and find a desert temple. I slowly and carefully slide out of the saddle so that Andr doesn't fall off. Once off, I carry her piggy-back style. Honestly, I know that she's awake but I don't care. She's surprisingly light considering her tall stature. I carry her into the temple and rest her against a sandstone pillar. "What do we do now?" asks Ana. "Leave that to me." I say and break the single block of blue wool in the middle of the temple. I prepare to jump down the hole when Jason grabs my arm. Major déjà vu noment. "Are you stupid? You know what happens when you go down carelessly." Jason warns me. "Then I guess I'm just dumb enougj to go down carelessly." I say shaking free of his hand and jumping down the hole.

I do a ninja-style wall slide down the wall of the hole. I place a torch and open the chests , looking at the loot: three diamonds, 12 bones, 31 rotten flesh, and seven iron ingots. Why the hell do these things always seem to have excessive amounts of rotten flesh? I accidentally step on the pressure plate, triggering the TNT trap in the hole. "Whoops. Gotta go!" I dump the loot into my bag and wall-jump my way back up the hole. Onc. I reach the top I grab the sandstone mid-jump and pull myself up and through the hole. "Jordan how did-" Ana starts. "No time to talk, gotta run, let's go!" I say frantically as I put Andr on my back and dash out of the temple doorway. The rest of the group follows close behind. Once we're all out I hear an explosion and turn around just in time to see the temple start to cave in on itself and collapse_**(I know that doesn't really happen but just leaving the temple would have been boring)**_.

I let Jason ride Shadow this time as we continue to venture onwards and I continue to willingly carry Andr as she pretends to be asleep. I look down at my watch. **3:43**. God, how long have we been out here? Guess it doesn't really matter Since we just continue to walk. After a few hours and Jason and Ana switching places, we reach a forest biome and I spot a jungle temple in the distance. "Ana, you should probably get off of Shadow. This isn't his ideal terrain." I tell her. "But my feet hurt!" she whines. "Ana..." I say, looking at her. "Fiine." She groans and gets off of Shadow's back.

After a few minutes we reach the temple. I put Andr down once more and start to loot. I tell Jason and Ana to check downstairs while Cupa and I check the secret chest. I tell Cupa to go downstairs and starts flicking the levers. Once we get the right combination Jason up to me, "Uum...Jordan. This has been looted already." "What? That can't be right." I say. Then I remember that there's still another human in this world. The chances that things have looted already aren't exactly slim.

I check the hidden chest and see it hasn't been looted. Whoever did the looted was either in a rush or isn't thorough. Either way it works out for me in the end because in the chest was four diamonds, two gold ingots, and an iron ingot. I put it all into my bag and dig my way out of the hole I'm in.

The sun's started going down by the time we leave the temple. Andr isn't pretending to be asleep anymore and it's Cupa's turn to ride Shadow. Once we get near the house I see a figure flash across the window upstairs. "Someone's in the house!" I say and sprint toward the house. I throw an iron ingot at the button to save myself the time of actually hitting it and waiting for the slight delay of the door opening. I run through the door and hear the chest in my room shut. I run up the stairs and get a glimpse of a person for a split second as whoever it is jumps over the railing and hits the ground and stumbles clumsily before running away, dropping a few emeralds and and iron ingot on the way. As well as a black pair of glasses. I'm the only one in the group with glasses and I'm wearing mine. I know these glasses, but that's impossible. That person shouldn't be here. Jason and the rest are only a second behind me. The thief stops dead in their tracks when they see the small horde of mobs that we apparently attracted. Jason looks at the glasses and starts, "Aren't those-" "I think so." I say and take out my bow. "But how is that possible?" he says confused. "I don't know. But we're about to find out." I say drawing and steadying an arrow. "You're gonna shoot him?" asks Cupa. I don't answer but instead release the arrow. It shoots through the air and narrowly misses the thief's head, burying itself deep into the forehead of a zombie that wouldn't grabbed the thief if I hadn't taken the shot. "Bullseye." I say and put the bow away. "So you're helping him?" Ana asks confused at my actions.

Yet again, I don't answer. I pick up the glasses, unsheathe my sword, and hop over the railing. I hit the ground and immediately make a bee line for the thief, decapitating a skeleton, slicing a wraith in half, and impaling a creeper on the way. I throw my sword and impale a grizzly bear that was standing on its hind legs, ready to swipe its giant paw at the thief's head. Thank God it didn't get to strike. That would've been an instant kill an if these glasses belong to who_**(I'm pretty sure that should be "whom" but I'm not gonna be a stickler about that stuff)**_ I think they do-and I'm 99% sure they do-I can't afford to lose the thief. That takes care of the mobs.

I sheathe my sword and put my hands above my head and slowly approach the thief, who's still holding the emeralds and iron they stole. The thief is wearing a red and white hoodie completely zipped up and covering their face_(I love those hoodies)_, blue jeans, and a pair of moderarely worn running shoes. I slowly reach for the zipper of the hoodie and the thief grabs my wrist. "I'm not going to hurt you." I say. The thief seems to be shocked at hearing my voice but let's my wrist go. I unzip the hood and stare, dumbfounded, at the face I see. The person I'm looking at is Skye, my ex-girlfriend from Earth. So I was right about who the thief was.

I put Skye's glasses on her face and stare at her. "Skye..." I say. She drops my stolen property and starts to tear up and jumps on me, wrapping her arms around me. "Jordan! I'm so glad it's you! I'm so sorry for stealing from you. I just found your house and really needed the stuff and-and..." she says frantically while crying into my shirt. "Shh. It's okay. I forgive you." I whisper into her ear and return her hug. For a second Skye pulls out of the embrace and looks at me with tears still flowing out of her eyes. Something about me always seemed to make Skye really emotional in certain situations. I pull her back into the hug, which is more for her than me. We just stand there, hugging in the semi-darkness, for a few minutes as Skye sobs onto me.

We walk into the house, followed by lots of shocked faces. I sit down on the red couch with Skye. "All right, I'll say it. What the fuck is going on?!" screams Ana. I look at her nonchalantly. "I guess introductions are necessary." I say as if the current situation is no big deal. In the inside I'm actually freaking the hell out. "Everyone, this is Skye, my ex-girlfriend from back on Earth." I explain. I notice that Skye tried to hide a bit of sadness upon me saying 'ex-girlfriend'. "G-girlfriend?" says each half-mob girl in unison. Jason is the only one that doesn't seem shocked by what's going on. "Perfect, just perfect. So we found _another_ girl. And the best part is, I know for a fact that I don't even have a chance." Jason says with a mix of disbelief and 'I give up'. He jumps flops down on the black couch opposite me and Skye and tilts his head back, closing his eyes.

_**(Time for a description!)**_

Skye is a young African American woman with short black hair that stops about an inch past the nape of her neck. She stands at 5'8". She has brown eyes behind a pair of black eyeglasses, just like me. She's never been a very formal person and, whenever possible, wears casual clothes, just like me. She's a gamer, just like me but a little more...passive. Skye's amazing at everything she does, which includes singing. She's pretty much just like me in every aspect, part of the reason I love her so much.

"Our relationship was fine for a while. We were together just about as often as we could be. Around February, she left. She and her family moved. The move itself wasn't all that bad. She was about a two-hour drive away. But the thing was that we were still in school, so we couldn't really come to see each other all too often. All we really had was phone and video calls, seasonal breaks, and the occasional free weekend. But that just wasn't enough. Eventually, I just had to break it off. It caused me pain to do it but it caused her even more." I explain. I also know that she still loves me, and I still love her a lot too, but I decide not to say that. As I said all that I just got more and more depressed.

"But all that's behind me. From now on Skye lives here." I say. "She is?!" say the mob girls. "I am?" Skye looks up at me shocked, confused, and happy all at once. "You are." I say to her with a smile. Skye grabs my arm and holds it tightly as she receives glares from the mob girls, besides Cupa. "Whelp!" I quickly stand up "I think it's about time we all went to bed!" I frantically rush everyone, trying to get rid of the tense, uncomfortable atmosphere in the room. "Andr and Skye, I'll sleep down here with you. Ana, you can take my bed. Jason, you have a room." I rush everyone, pushing Jason, Ana, and Cupa upstairs. "Why am I the Forever Alone Guy here?" Jason asks. "Sacrifices." I say and push them up the stairs.

Once they're all situated upstairs I walk back down and flop into one of the armchairs with a heavy sigh. "Glad that's over." I say. Then I realize it's not; Andr is just sitting on the black couch across from Skye, still glaring at her. Skye just shrinks into her hoodie, sitting awkwardly trying to avert Andr's gaze. That' sons trait Skye has that I don't: her timidity. I've never been easily scared by anything, and if I ever was I ignore it and conquer it. But that's something Skye just doesn't seem to have the mental will to do. If looks could kill, Skye would have been dead a few minutes ago. "Alright, Andr. Chill the hell out. Its not like I'm gonna let you hurt her." I say, looking at Andr seriously. Skye blushes and Andr can't seem to keep her gaze after hearing that. Andr takes off her jacket to reveal a tight-looking purple t-shirt underneath. I can't help but notice that her breasts are bigger than you would immediately assume while she's wearing her jacket. From the looks of it, she's about a C-cup. She takes off her shoes and lies down on the black couch, still looking pretty envious of Skye, but eventually falling asleep.

I could try to back up what I said with something that doesn't make Andr so jealous but right now I'm just too tired to give a fuck. Whatever happens, happens. All I know is that no-one's laying a finger on Skye. 'Cause if that happens, I'll cut a bitch. I don't even bother to take off my clothes, not even my shoes. I just take off my bag, hat, and glasses and put them next to the armchair I'm in. I close my eyes and start to drift to sleep when a voice snaps me back. "J-Jordan..." Skye looks at me slightly embarrassed. "I...I don't have anything to sleep in." Skye says. That's right; jeans and a jacket are far too uncomfortable. "Just take off your clothes then." I say casually. "You probably want to just see me without clothes." she looks down and blushes. "Well it wouldn't be the first time." I say, making her blush deeper.

Skye continues to blush as she starts to remove articles of clothing. She takes off her jacket and is wearing a graphic tee underneath with a marshmallow over a campfire saying, "Let's get toasty!". She takes that off to reveal a sky blue bra_(It has nothing to do with her name)_ with lace around the perimeter and her B-cup breasts, pretty small for an 18-year-old but I don't mind their small size. They're one of the things I like about her; combined with her timidity they just make her even cuter. She takes off her jeans to reveal a matching pair of sky blue panties. "Lace doesn't seem like you. You've never tried to be sexy. Then again, you never _needed_ to." I say with a smirk. Skye just starts to blush again.

She walks toward me and climbs on top of me. "What are you doing?" I ask. "Getting comfortable." she blushes. I don't know why she's blushing so much. This type of stuff wasn't exactly rare in our relationship. She sits in my lap sideways and wraps her arms around me. "Skye..." I say quietly, looking deep into her dark brown eyes. "Jordan..." she does the same. We slowly bring our faces together until our lips touch. We kiss passionately until we need more oxygen, then we just kiss again. This chain goes on for about five minutes. "Skye...you should know that I never stopped loving you." I tell her, making her smile. "Same here." she says back to me. "I could tell," I say. "You weren't doing a very good job at hiding her feelings." I tell her. All she does is smile happily and bury her head into my chest, falling asleep to the sound of my heartbeat. It gradually slows down as I drift further and further into slumber holding Skye in my arms.

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_**There it is! I think my now the thanks can go unsaid. Just so all of you know, Jason and Skye are older than Jordan. Skye by six months and Jason by eight. Yet he's still taller than both of them. I'm definitely gonna end up with this story being rated M. It'll eventually have lemons(sex) and smut(sexual stuff) so those of you who like that, you'll be pleased. For those of you who don't like that stuff I'll put a warning for when the lemons are gonna happen, but not the smut. Sorry about that but I guess you'll just have to bear it. I'll try to write as much as possible each day to advance the story more. I'm done rambling. Favorite. Follow. Review. You should get the gist of it by now. **_

_**KTHXBAI**_


	9. Guardian Angel

**_Welcome back. Enjoy the chapter. That's it._**

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**Chapter 9: Guardian Angel**

"What the hell is going on?" I demand with crossed arms. After I fell asleep I was paid another visit by Notch and Jeb. "We really don't have a way to explain it too well ourselves." Jeb scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "_Find_ a way." I demand. "When you crossed through the Gateway you ended up weakening the barrier that separates our world from yours. Though, it was only spanned for about one Earth mile." Notch explains. "Therefore-" Jeb begins. "My friends have no trouble passing through." I cut him off with a sigh. Is my mind really _that_ strong? Why did Skye have to come through? Jason is just fine but why _her_?! I still can't completely comprehend just how she was able to make it through. "A female managed to make it through the Gateway. Just how weak did I make the barrier?" "How it is at the moment, excessive activity there would completely destroy it; anything from your world could make it here and vice versa." Jeb says. "About how long do you think it can withstand?" I ask. "At this rate of one human each day, it has within a week." Jeb says. "A _week_?!" I exclaim.

"This type of thing has happened once before," Notch says, piquing my interest. "About a year ago, another human with a mind similar to yours passed through. It weakened the Gateway's barrier, but not this much." "Is this other human still here now?" I ask suddenly. Notch, while caught off guard, still answers, "Why yes. He actually is. You'll meet him soon enough." In the meantime I need to protect Skye. She's never been very good in dangerous situations. I won't let anyone hurt hurt; and if they do, they're _fucked_. I don't know how I would go on knowing that it's my fault she got hurt.

"Soo...question." I say. "Shoot." says Notch. "Are you two gay with each other?" I ask. "What?! No!" Jeb says quickly. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with you being gay. I can live with you guys' decision as long as you don't try to include me in anything." I say. "I assure you we're not gay." Notch says. "Well if you aren't doing each other, what the hell _are_ you doing up here, 'cause this is boring as FUCK! I get bored out of my mind here and I'm only here for what feels like minutes!" I say. "We watch the timelines." Notch says. "Timelines? Explain." I say, cocking my eyebrow.

"You would assume that, being gods, we know anything that has happened, is happening, or will happen. It's a bit more complicated than that. We know everything that ever has happened, sure. But we can only see what _can_ happen, not what _will_." We can't say for certain what will definitely will happen but we see any possibility that could happen." Jeb explains. "Go on. I find myself...intrigued." I say. "There are different paths in time for different possibilities, and they're are _infinite_ possibilities in this world." Jeb explains. "Imagine the beginning of time as a straight line. For every possibility, decision, et cetera**_(etc.)_** that happens, the line breaks off into multiple lines, one for each outcome. For example, last night Skye dropped her glasses trying to escape you. You knew who she was and that's why you didn't shoot her. Well at the point where she dropped the glasses the line originally broke off into another path. On this path she never dropped the glasses and you shot her." he continues. "No way! I'd never shoot Skye, no matter what!" I interject. "But you _would_ shoot a thief that isn't her. And you just so happened to not know it was her." Wow. I can only imagine what I would've went through if I did end up shootings Skye.

"So, basically, there are different timelines, essentially parallel universes, for any and every outcome and decision ever." "Exactly." says Notch. "If there are an infinite amount of them, why waste your time on this particular one?" "We can only live in a single timeline. For whatever outcome that actually happens, the other possible timelines disappear. The moment's passed and it's impossible for them to ever happen." "So when you say you look at the timelins you don't mean looking at other present realities. You mean looking at future possible realities based on each possible outcome of anything that actually has an impact on the world." "You got it." "Mindfucking." "That's a way of putting it." "So what should I do about Skye? She's not exactly fit for this world." "If you care about her as much as you're letting on, you'll do whatever you can to keep her safe." "I will." "Then it seems that we're done here. By the way, Jordan, you should check your mail. It'll start to pile up."

I wake up to a surprising silence in the house. Andr is still on the couch asleep. Skye is still in my lap asleep. Did I actually wake up before everyone else? Odds are I'll meet another one of my friends today. There's not exactly a wide range of people to expect, not many of my friends like _Minecraft_, and that's fair. It's not the most exciting game; I get it. I don't want to wake up Skye by getting up, so I check my watch for the time. **7:43**. Fuck that. I'm never up this early when I don't have school. I tilt my head back and close my eyes again. I fall asleep easily enough, after all I haven't been awake long.

It's dark. The sky is a mix between a blood red and a fiery orange. The grass and leaves are a dry orange-brown color. The clouds in the sky are a dull dark gray. It reminds me of the apocalypse. I walk through an apocalyptic forest biome. Eventually I reach a section of a plains biome. The same one that my current house is in. I walk continue to walk forward in the direction that the house should be in. Given the setting, I doubt it'll be standing.

I start to run across several burned corpses. The thing that freaks me out about the corpses is that there wearing our clothes. The clothes aren't completely intact, but definitely recognizable. The first corpse has Cupa's creeper hoodie. The second has Ana's jacket. The third has a _Halo 4_ t-shirt that I've seen Jason wear _a lot_. The fifth has Ana's jacket. The sixth is wearing the graphic tee Sky wore on her first day here. Oddly enough, there are more than that. The next corpse has a light gray jacket and a black t-shirt. I know exactly who's that is. He wears that combination way too often. The next has a big winter coat resembling a snowman. After that is a corpse wearing a _small_ gray vest. Every single one of the corpses has, from what I can tell, a look of pain and sheer agony on its face. The final, and most sickening of all, is wearing my clothes. My red, black, and white button-down and black jeans; the original outfit I wore here. The sickening thing about this one is that the head is missing.

I continue to walk until I reach the ruins of my house. Once near, I see a person kneeling down, looking at the ruins of my house, which appears to have been burned down. The unsettling thing about the situation is that the person has a psychotic smile on his face. The guy has dark brown, slicked back hair that reaches down to his shoulder blades. He wears a long black trench coat, that reminds of Kirito from Sword Art Online, along with dark blue jeans, and black military-style combat boots.

He notices me and looks at me with red eyes that make my blood run cold. "You! How many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?!" he quickly pulls out an enchanted diamond sword and lunges at me at a speed that, for a human, shouldn't be possible.

The diamond sword goes in through my chest and out through my back. I snap awake immediately, jumping out of the armchair I was sleeping in, drenched in sweat and clutching my heart, where I was stabbed. Everyone else is already up and now is looking at me weird. I feel like my heart is beating at least 2,000 times every five seconds. I fall to one knee, still clutching my heart. "Jordan!" Skye screams and rushes to my side. "Shit man, are you alright?!" Jason exclaims, rushing to my aid. When my brain processes the fact that my heart is still beating I stop holding my chest and stand up.

I walk upstairs and change out of my current clothes. I put on a red, short-sleeved, v-neck t-shirt and a pair of slightly baggy khaki cargo pants. I put on a dark gray D-ring belt, not really to support the pants, but it kind of enhances the outfit. I never wear cargo pants without a D-ring belt; they just look better with them. I finish off the look with a red and black OBEY snapback.

I sit down on the black couch and wait for my heart to slow down. "Are you ok?" Andr asks. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Ana follows up. "I'm...I'm fine." I manage to breathe out. That was some freaky shit. The worst part is how real it felt. I don't just mean that like I didn't know it was a dream. I knew it was a dream and yet everything felt so realistic. I'm cut out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. "I got it." I say and get up. I walk to the door with everyone behind me. Ice runs through my veins as I see the face of the stranger. He's the same guy from the dream-or better said nightmare-I just had. The only difference is his eyes. Instead of a satanic red, they're grass green. Now actually looking at him face-to-face I notice that he's just under 5'11". Yet another person shorter than me.

I look at him coldly. To him I must just seem like I'm not really showing a facial expression. "Hi, I'm Shawn. I'm new here and, by coincidence, managed to find this house; and an amazing house it is." he says in a typical cool-guy voice with a smile. Bullshit he just got here. The city I live in isn't exactly the biggest, so there's nobody there I don't know. And according to Notch and Jeb, the range that the barrier's weakening didn't go too far. If I'm right, he's the other strong mind that weakened the barrier last year. He may seem completely calm and cool to the others but I instantly see what he's hiding. His smile, his eyes, his voice; they're all the appearance of a secret troublemaker. I often have the same look on my face. I'm not the most decent person. Might as well play along for now. I smile back and say, "Thanks. One moment please." I shut the door. I push the others away from the door, out of earshot of Shawn. "Play along." I whisper to them. "What? Why?" says Ana. "Look at me," I say, completely serious. "Play. Along." I walk back to the door and open in back up. "Sorry about that. I was seeing if my girlfriend put the raw beef in the oven; turns out she didn't. Anyway, hi. You can call me Red." I say, putting on a convincing fake smile. "Color or character?" he asks. "You're a Pokémon man?" "More or less." "Same here. You know, I get the feeling that we're gonna get along just fine." We exchange a fist-bump. I wonder how much bullshit could be avoided if I killed this guy right now.

"You can step in if you want." Ana says, catching me off guard. Shit. I expected someone to invite him in but was hoping it wouldn't happen. "No thanks. Thanks for the invite but I'll have to pass." "Got a lot of exploring to do?" "Yeah. You seem to know the life." he says, half-smiling. He seems a lot like me. Shame I'm gonna have to hate him. He turns around and walks away from the house. I shut the door and breathe a sigh of relief. "What's with you?" Jason asks. "It's nothing; don't worry about it."

I walk to the kitchen, where the baby Komodo Dragon and coral snakes are Waiting to be fed. The small have grown a lot since their hatching. It hasn't even been two full days and Draco, the Komodo Dragon, is already at his full length of 10 feet. The coral snakes have already grown to their full lengths. One snake is two and a half feet while the other is just two. Animals in _Minecraft_, for some reason, grow and age at an amazing rate. The snakes, a male and female, always seem to fight over just about anything and to be opposites in just about every way. I appropriately named the female Yin and the male Yang. I feed Yin and Yang each a cooked rat and feed Draco a cooked turkey.

Herobrine implemented the OreSpawn Mod so I should probably start to acknowledge that fact. It adds a shitload of tough mobs and, though it's not something I would usually choose to do, I'm gonna need the badass armor it adds. But first, i need to see what mail I've apparently been getting. I walk outside and open my mailbox. Given the tip, I'm not surprised to see a package and an envelope. I walk back into the house and put the box on top of the coffee table. "What's that?" asks Cupa. "I don't know; let's see." I say as she takes a seat next to me and I open up the box. Inside is a new back scabbard, this one identical to my current one but with two scabbards for dual wielding. I find it kind of justified that I'll be able to dual wield without another mod. I would've probably ended up dual wielding anyway, even without the scabbard. I take off my current scabbard and put the new one on.

Along with the scabbard is, oddly enough, my cell phone, headphones, and charger. "How the hell?" I quietly ask myself as I pull out the white iPhone 5c with the Apple charger and ear buds that come with it. I hit the power button and look at the screen. "Fully charged." I say to myself. I slip the phone into my pocket and the charger and headphones into the bag. The last item is me, Skye, and Jason's toothbrushes as well as three tubes of toothpaste all strung together by a rubberband. I tear open the envelope and see a note that makes my stomach drop and my heart skip a beat. 'Watch your back. -H'.

I rip the note up violently just as Skye walks down the stairs. "He okay?" she asks Cupa. "I honestly don't know." Cupa replies. I craft two diamond swords and a diamond pickaxe with the diamonds from the temples and put the swords into my new scabbard."I'm leaving. Skye, you're coming." I grab her hand. "With any luck, we'll be back soon. Sleep with this next to you _at all times_." I tell Cupa, giving her my iron sword. "Why?" She asks. "Cupa. Promise me that you'll sleep with this in range." "O-Ok." she says hearing the seriousness in my voice. "But how do I use it?" She asks. I don't have the time to teach her how to properly use a sword. I wrap my hands around hers, helping her hold it steady. All the while I can feel the 'girlfriend stares' Skye's shooting my way. "You hold it and swing." I say and swing her arm down and across. I practically drag Skye out the door. "Where are you going?" Andr warps in front of me. "Utopia." I say to her, looking at the ground as I walk. "_Where?_" "I'm looking for a Goodness Tree." I continue walking, searching the ground for brown ants. "A _what?_" Andr says in utter confusion. "Don't worry about it. We'll be back." I continue to pull Skye away from the house.

"So what was that with Cupa?" Skye asks. I can feel her stare drilling into the side of my skull. "I was teaching her the basics of a sword." I say, refusing to look up. If I look at her while she's mad, her glare will melt my skull. Anybody with a girlfriend knows that. "You pulled a golf date move." she says. "What?" I ask. "That thing that guys do when they take their girlfriend golfing. Where they wrap their arms and hands around the girl's and teach them to play." she says. I can hear the anger tugging at the back of her throat. "I was _just_ helping. Nothing more." I say. "Okay then." she says starting to simmer down.

It takes 10 minutes to find an ant and five more minutes to convince Skye to kill a bird. I managed to catch a blue Grosbeak for her. It took another two minutes to console her after she snapped the innocent bird's neck. If there's one thing Skye's amazing at, it's wasting time when she's with me. "Let's go!" I exclaim, stepping on the brown ant. When I step on the ant, a portal opens up in front of me and Skye. I step through and pull her through me. The portal immediately closes behind us in the Utopia Dimension. "It's...beautiful!" Skye exclaims in astonishment. For miles all you can see a beautiful, gigantic trees. If you don't see trees you see large fields of grass full of golden apple cows. As we walk I also marvel at the amazing scenery. "Alright, focus your mind on the Grosbeak. How it acts, how it looks, what it would be like to _be_ it."

We both start to morph, me faster than Skye. She occasionally stops throughout the morph claiming she has to throw up or that it's really uncomfortable and she doesn't like it. I tell her that's just a part of the process and she continues on. Once she finally finishes her morph, we take off.** "This is just like those weird books you're always reading."** I hear Skye's voice in my head. Oh my fuck. Telepathy?! I didn't even know we could do that! Then again, I never tried. I know what I'm calling this.**"Hey,_ Animorphs_ is a good series! You can't even bag on it when you've only read half of one book!" **I thought-speak back to her. Thank you K.A. Applegate. **"Whatever."** she says back to me.

We fly for a few hours, from giant tree to giant tree to giant tree.** "So what is this 'Goodness Tree' we're looking for anyway?"** Skye asks through thought-speak. **"Trust me, you'll know when you see it. There's no mistaking a Goodness Tree."** I tell her. **"You know, it's really peaceful here. No chaos. No _interruptions_." **Skye emphasizes 'interruptions'. **"I don't know. It seems like it would be good at first but get really boring really fast. Besides it's only like this above ground aside from one mob. And trust me, that is not something you want to go against."** I tell her. **"I kind of like it. Just you and me. Not having to worry about the others."** she says. As much as I like where this is going, I also kind of don't.

After hours of flying and resting a Goodness Tree comes into view.** "There it is!" **I mentally shout, quickly changing the subject back to the primary objective. I fly as fast as I can toward the the gigantic tree. The thing that distinguishes this tree from its brothers and sisters is that the trunks and branches are gold blocks, the steps up the tree are diamond blocks, and the leaves are emerald and other gem/ingot blocks. We fly as fast as we can toward the tree.** "Don't go any higher than the second branch level. The King is somewhere around the top and I _do not_ want to disturb him."** I tell Skye. We land on the second level just like I said. **"We don't even need to go any higher. This branch alone could supply us for who-knows-how-long!" **Skye says in completely justified amazement. We both demographic and I give her an iron pickaxe as I take out my diamond one.**_(Btw, each human came into Minecraftia with some type of backpack. They do need an inventory after all.)_**

It takes until sundown to mine as much as we can from the tree. Once my zombie bag and her backpack are both full to the brim we each hear a vicious roar from the top of the tree. "Oh shit, we gotta go! Now!" I grab Skye's arm and run to the edge of the branch. "Shouldn't we morph to birds?!" Skye asks frantically. "Not fast enough!" I jump off the edge and pull Skye with me. "Skye, get on my back!" I say as we fall. She doesn't hesitate to do so. One thing she'd learned about me from the years of our relationship is that I always have a crazy plan that just might get us out of a sticky situation. "Hold on tight and don't let go!" I say to her. My heart beats out of my chest. Hopefully I'm fast enough; if not...I've lived a good life. I focus as hard as possible on the bat horse DNA inside of me and the changes swiftly begin.

My fingers and toes melt together and harden into hooves. My skin darkens until it's jet black. No no no. I need the wings! My neck extends and my face protrudes from me face as my ears slide up my head to the top. Well...we're fucked. Suddenly my back starts to feel weird. Quicker than hitting a light switch two huge, black, leathery wings shoot from my back. **"Yes!"** I yell in thought-speak. "Jordan! The ground!" Skye screams. In my excitement I didn't notice we were about five seconds away from hitting the ground. At this moment I realize the fact that separates the outcomes of life and death. I don't know how to fly this morph. **"Shit!"** I yell. I've got an idea that I'm not too sure will work. But it's now or never.

I stop thinking. I stop any brain activity that I can. I let my human mind slip away and, luckily, my idea works. The bat horse mind quickly takes over. In a split second the bat horse flaps it powerful wings and, just like that, we're going from falling to flying. The morph seems to finish itself and I go completely bat horse. Skye manages to hold on as we suddenly stop plummeting toward the ground below us. I take the horse body back over and fly us a safe distance away from the Goodness Tree.

I land and Skye climbs off of my back. I demorph and Skye slaps me. "What was that for?!" I yell at her. She just looks at me before jumping into my arms. "Don't ever scare me like that again." she says. "No promises." I say, holding her closely. She pulls out of the hug and grabs my right hand. She places my hand on her left breast and I feel her heart beating at what feels like a thousand beats per minute. "Did I really scare you that much?" I ask and she nods. "Can we leave now?" Skye asks. "Nope." I say. "Why not?" she whines. "We need a brown ant," I say. "And I don't think we're about to find one in the dark." "So that means..." she starts. "We're stuck here." I finish.

I mine our way into the trunk of the nearest Magic Apple Tree and close it back up. I place a few torches and two beds. I sit down on one and Skye sits next to me. We both dump everything we mined on the ground and we review what types of blocks we got; there's way too much to actually count how much we got. Diamond, gold, emerald, ruby, amethyst, titanium, and uranium. We have enough to last forever. I craft two ultimate swords and inspect them. The hilt is made of iron and obsidian with two large rubies in the top and bottom that are visible on both sides. The blade has a colorful glow to it and is a few inches longer than a normal _Minecraft_ sword. I take my diamond swords out of the scabbard and put the ultimate ones in. I take off all of my gear as well as my shoes and socks an lie down in the now king size bed. Skye takes off her gear, jeans, shoes, and socks and lies down next to me and snuggles up against me. I wrap my arms around her and kiss her. "Night." she says. "Night." I say.

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_**Well that's over. My birthday was actually on Wednesday. Sorry for not coming through then, but I'm here now. I was too excited thinking about it and couldn't focus on writing. I may just make this a weekly thing. I'll probably start some action soon. Right now every chapter ends with Jordan falling asleep and that's getting boring. Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed. Follow, favorite, review. I'll see you in the next chapter. **_

_**KTHXBAI**_


	10. Music To My Ears

**_Nothing much to say here. All standard disclaimers apply. _**

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**Chapter 10: Music To My Ears**

I hear moans and groans next to me as I'm slowly pulled back to consciousness. "Nnnnngh. Mmph." I keep my eyes closed and shift my position in the bed. Sure enough, the sounds abruptly stop for a few seconds before starting up again, but a little quieter this time. I slowly and silently turn my head and open one eye. I see Skye sitting on the edge of the bed with her back to me. From what I can tell, her right hand is in her lap and her left is...higher up. Her shirt is pulled up to her chest as well. Well...I know what's going on now. Her left arm moves vigorously while what's visible of her right arm seemingly remains still.

_**Lemon ahead! Skip ahead if you don't want to read! You have been warned!**_

"Having a fun morning, are ya?" I say out of the blue. Skye jumps, startled. Now on her feet she turns to me, covering herself with her hands. She fumbles to pull up her jeans and panties, which are pulled down to her knees at the moment. "Jordan! When did you wake up?" she says frantically, still fumbling to grab her jeans and keep herself covered at the same time. "Not important. But what is important is what I caught you in the act of." I say as I stand up. "What are you gonna do?" Skye asks as I slowly walk toward her. "What am I gonna do? I'm gonna finish the job." I say, pushing her down onto the bed. I plant a light kiss on her lips as I climb on top of her. "Jordan, you don't know how much I wanted this. I've wanted to do this since my first night here." Skye says in quick breaths. I slyly reach down her body and slide two fingers into her. She gasps in surprise. I shove my fingers in completely, earning a moan from Skye. I pull my fingers out and run them together. "You're soaking wet. How long had you been doing this before I woke up?" I ask her. "I don't know." Skye answers sheepishly. I push three fingers in suddenly and Skye moans in ecstasy.

I continue pushing my fingers in and out for about 30 seconds before pulling them out. Skye whimpers. "It wouldn't be fair if only you got satisfied, now would it?" I say and stand up. I pull down my cargo pants, revealing the tent in my boxers. I pull down my boxers and Skye gasps at the sight of my nine-inch erection. "I forgot how big it is." Skye says in shock. Despite her initial shock, Skye quickly gets off of the bed and onto her knees. She grabs my dick with one hand and starts to rub the shaft up and down as she teases the head into her mouth. A moan subconsciously slips out of me as Skye works her magic. She starts to move her hand faster as she takes more of me deeper into her mouth. I see Skye use her free hand to rub her lower lips while my dick is in her upper ones. She continues to stroke with her hand and bob her head up and down on my cock, gradually increasing her speed. I feel a pressure build up in my balls an exclaim, "I'm cumming!" before grabbing Skye's head and pushing it down as far as possible(she still doesn't take in my full length) and shooting my cum down her throat. I pull two or three inches out as I cum to make sure Skye doesn't choke to death. She slowly pulls her mouth off of my cock and quickly shuts her mouth, swallowing as much of my cum as she can. Though she's forced to spit some out; I often shoot out too much for her to take.

"That was amazing." Skye says, still fingering her pussy. She never came and I'm still not finished. "We're not done yet," I say pointing to my still rock-hard shaft "I'm gonna need another release before I'm completely satisfied." Skye starts to thrust her fingers faster. "And I think I'll need a more comfortable position." I say with a mischievous smile. I turn Skye around and push her forward, bending her over the bed. I get on my knees behind her and position my hard member in front her dripping vagina.

"You ready?" I ask. "Yes, please!" Skye says desperately. I quickly thrust into her. She moans loudly. "How does it feel?" she asks. "If anything, it's tighter than I remember. But hell, I'm not complaining!" I say as I start to thrust and Skye starts to moan out of pain and pleasure. Skye moans louder as I continue to thrust, going deeper and quickening my speed with each one. So warm and tight. I love it! I can feel my conscious mind seem to slip away as pure lust replaces it. I continue to fuck Skye doggystyle. After about 10 minutes Skye and I have a perfect rhythm going. I can feel the climax slowly building itself up. "Jordan," Skye manages to breathe out. "I'm gonna cum soon! I can feel it!" "Me too!" I gasp out. "I want you to cum inside me!" she says. "I'm not exactly ready to be a father, Skye!" I say back without ever stopping or breaking our rhythm. "There's only one way, Skye." I pull out and she groans and whimpers.

I position my still rock-hard dick in front of her anus and quickly shove it in. It's twice as tight as her pussy was. She screams in a well balance of even more pain and pleasure than before. "God, why are you-nngh-so damn big?" Skye says only about 10% complaining. I fuck her ass faster and faster. "I can't hold it in anymore," she screams. "I'm cumming!" she says as juices shoot out of her pussy and onto the ground. She collapses onto the bed panting. "Don't pass out just yet. I'm not done!" I say to her half-conscious body. I feel a pressure build up in my balls as I lose the ability to keep anything in. "I'm cumming!" I shout as I thrust my full nine inches into Skye's ass. Skye moans in pure heaven as I shoot load after load after load of sperm deep inside of her. "Oh God yes! Fill me up!" Skye screams in ecstasy before falling

Once nothing else can come out I pull out of Skye and flop down next to her unconscious body as I regain my breath. I look at her partially naked body. Her jeans and panties pulled down to her knees, her shirt and bra pulled over her small breasts, her adorable sleeping face. Everything about her just screams "Cute!"

_**Lemon over! For those of you who skipped, resume reading here.**_

I reclothe myself and Skye and stand up. I take out my phone and go to the notes. I write _"Looking for ant. Be back soon. Don't leave the tree." _I take a screenshot of the note, set it as my lock screen, and drop my phone onto the bed before grabbing my gear and leaving the tree. A normal person would've passed out from exhaustion like Skye, but I'm far from normal. That to me was like having a cup of coffee. It just energized me and got me ready for the day.

As I walk I occasionally notice a fly from Mo' Creatures following me. Wait, what? Last time I checked Utopia doesn't have flies. The mods shouldn't be overlapping like this. Which can only mean one thing. I quickly turn around and swat the fly out of the air with my hand. "What do you want?" I say to it.** "Quite the smart one, you are." **says Shawn in thought-speak. "Shawn." I say as he demorphs. Within a few seconds Shawn is fully human. I look at him, knowing he's my enemy.

"I know you didn't fall for my act at your house. I don't care what you do, just stay out of my way. And if you don't you'd best watch your back." Shawn says with the same look as me on his face. "What the hell are you talking about?" I say to him. "I'm taking over, and you're not gonna stand in my way." What the hell is wrong with this guy? "I don't care what the fuck your goal is, just keep me and my friends out of your shit." I say to him. "We'll see." he says, turning around and walking away. "Watch over your girl, Jordan. Wouldn't want to see her meet an unfortunate end." He says as he walks. I would stick my ultimate sword through him for threatening Skye's safety if my entire body hadn't stiffened upon hearing my name. How the hell did he learn my name?!

"Shit shit shit shit! This is bad! How did he find out my name?" I say to myself when he's out of earshot. Just as I say that I feel a small sting on my hand and look down to see a brown ant on it. "Fuck you ant, biting me like that." I say to it as if it can understand me. I cup my hands around it and haul ass back to the tree and Skye.

By the time I get back Skye is sitting on the edge of the patiently waiting for my return. "Thank God! I almost started to think something happened to you!" Skye says in relief. "Yeah, yeah, hold this." I say and drop the brown ant into her hands. I may have seemed a bit cold but I can't help but think about my encounter with Shawn. Skye shrieks and immediately drops the ant onto the ground. "Why'd you drop it?" I ask her. "You put a bug on me!" "I don't like bugs either but I'm not scared to hold it. Just put your hands around it. Make a pen it can't escape." Skye complies. I craft myself an ultimate bow and look at it. "Sweet, it's a recurve! It even has a sight!" I say, excited. I'm like a little boy on Christmas. Suddenly my mind goes blank for a split-second and I feel something flow through my arms. The feeling passes just as suddenly as it came. The bow has the same colorful glow to it as the swords.

I craft a full suit of ultimate armor and put it into my bag, where I reserved space for it. I pick up the brown ant and put him on the ground. I put my phone in my pocket, step on the ant, and grab Skye's hand as I pull her through the portal to the Overworld.

I don't let her go even when we get back to the house. I freeze once I step foot into the living room. I stare at the guy sitting on the couch. "Raphael?" I say in awe as I stare at my Filipino American friend. Of course I expected him after my nightmare but I didn't expect him so soon. "Hey." He says casually, as if everything was normal. That's one of the things I like about Raphael. He has a tendency to not give a fuck, much like me but nobody I know can give less fucks than me. "Just got here?" I ask, taking a seat on the opposite and pulling Skye along with me; I still haven't let go of her hand. "Yeah." Raphael answers. "Where'd you wake up?" I ask him. "The forest right by this place. Talk about convenient." Well that answers how he got here so fast.

Raphael is a 5'9" 18-year old Filipno American with moderately short, shaggy, black hair and dark brown eyes. His normal casual outfit, which he happens to be wearing now, is a black t-shirt, a light gray hoodie, blue jeans, and a plain pair of sneakers. He wears a military green paracord bracelet that he made as well as a plain black analog watch that, if it's any particular brand, is a brand I don't recognize.

"Hey, can I have a word with you in private real quick?" Raphael asks, standing up. "As long as you're not coming out of the closet to me, sure." I joke. One of the amazing aspects of my friendships is that I can be a complete dick and nobody will take me seriously. Friendship is a beautiful thing.

For the first time since Utopia I let Skye's hand go. Raphael and I walk outside to the side of the house. "Quite the harem you're building." he says quietly. For all we know the mob girls could be listening. "I know right?" I say. A nice aspect of my friendship with Raphael is that we both love anime. "Any chance I can hook one of them?" he asks. "Not even the slightest." I say. "Fuck you, you greedy fuckard." he says. "My harem, my girls," I say, simply. "Remember when i first saw that picture that said I belong in a yaoi world?" I ask. "Yeah." "And remember when you found another one?" "Uh-huh." "And remember all those times you said I needed to accept it?" "Yup." "Well that's all biting you in the ass now, isn't it?" "Mhm."

We walk back into the house where everyone but Andr is now in the living room and Raphael takes a seat back on the couch. I lean against the wall and cross my arms. Ana and I are the only ones in the room that are standing. "So what happened while Skye and I were gone?" I ask no specific person. Jason speaks up, "Nothing much besides Andr acting weird and Raphael showing up like a half hour ago." "Wait, Andr acting weird? Explain." I say. Cupa speaks up, "A few minutes after you and Skye left Andr claimed she had something important to do before warping away for about 20 minutes." That is weird. I better keep an eye on her to make sure everything's okay with her. I look at Ana, who looks tired and is ever so lightly nodding off. Being a night owl myself I know what it looks like when someone's had little to no sleep. I have the ability to hide it until my downtime though.

"Ana, are you ok? You look exhausted." I say suddenly. "N...no...I'm...fine." Ana says with slow, heavy breaths. I put my hands on Ana's shoulders and look her dead in the eyes. "Ana. Don't lie to me. Did you get any sleep last night?" I ask her seriously. "N...no." she breathes out. "Why not?" I ask her in complete seriousness. Hopefully it's not the answer I'm thinking. "Those...those things." Ana says. "Details, Ana." I say. "Last night, I stayed up waiting for you to come back. Everyone else had gone to sleep and I was getting tired. I went to sleep in your old bed next to Cupa but it didn't last long. An hour or so later I randomly woke up and saw someone watching me." she starts to explain. "Black hoodie? Mouthless, noiseless, blue mask with black eye sockets and black ooze dripping out?" Ana nods and I tense up. "Continue." I tell her. "I wasted no time in grabbing the sword Cupa had at the bedside for some reason as he lunged forward at me." I would praise Cupa if the situation wasn't so serious. "I blocked him with the sword and kicked him away from me. After that he jumped over the railing and ran into the forest." she finishes.

"Shit shit shit shit. Nononono. _Fuck!_" I punch the wall so hard a wood plank block pops out. Wood in this would doesn't hurt your knuckles when you punch it. Otherwise, how would anyone get anywhere here? I waste no time in grabbing Ana's grey jacket. In less than a second her jacket is on the floor and she's standing, stunned, in a black tank top. I, just as quickly grab the bottom of her tank top before Skye intervenes. "What do you think you're doing?!" she yells at me, jumping off of the couch and grabbing my hands. I say nothing and easily power through her hold on my hands. Ana blushes as I lift up her tank top, revealing her black A-cup bra. "Bold move from a protagonist." Raphael says with an amused and smug smirk on his face. I inspect her abdomen and see nothing wrong. "Oh thank God." I say relieved and let go of Ana's tank top which she quickly pulls down and blushes.

"Wait. You said 'those'. What was the other one?" I say knowing it won't comfort me any more than hearing about Eyeless Jack did. "I couldn't sleep for hours after that. Eventually I passed out but even that didn't last. About 45 minutes later I woke up again. At the foot of the need was...something. It had a body like a human but had a face kind of like a shaved wolf. And it's body over all looked like it had been ran over by a not-so-fast minecart. It sat, naked, at the foot of the bed, staring into space. It quickly noticed my awakening and looked back at me. It snarled and ran to the railing on all fours before climbing over and running into the same direction as the first one." Ana finishes.

I hug her tightly, catching her off guard. She says nothing and returns the hug. A few seconds into it her body starts to slump against mine. I slightly pull out of the hug and see that she fell asleep. I swoop her up bridal style and say, "I'm taking her to bed." before carrying her up the stairs where Andr is just waking up. "Oh, you're back. Good morning." She says with a yawn. "Morning." I say, putting Ana into my old bed, which as of now she can keep, and pull the blanket over her. "Way too close." I say quietly, looking at her.

I follow Andr downstairs and walk into the kitchen. I take a baked potato out of the fridge and eat it. The food here stays its initial temperature even after being put into a fridge, so hot foods stay hot, steam and all. I bring some food outside to the animals. I give Yin and Yang each two raw porkchops and give Draco a raw turkey. I give Shadow, Jazzie, and Calvin each five apples.

At this point Raphael, Andr, and Jason had come outside as well. According to my nightmare I end up with a snow golem. With Herobrine having put the Mob Evolution mod into effect I might as well use it to my advantage and up the ante. I place two snow blocks, craft a redstoned pumpkin, and put it on top. A brilliant white light engulfs the construction and I'm forced to look away to keep my eyesight. Skye and Cupa also come outside at this point. Once the light seems to fade away I turn my head back. In front of me is a teenaged girl, roughly 5'8", with bright orange hair and amazing red eyes. She wears a _big_ winter coat with a snow golem design, brown leggings that disappear underneath her coat, and brown winter boots. She looks at me with a cute smile.

"Hi, I'm Jordan." I say. "Hi. Are you my master?" She asks with a cute French accent. I've always loved girls with accents. "I guess so. What's your name?" "What's my name?" she asks. "I don't know, I just asked you." I say. "My name...is whatever Master wants it to be." she says. Oh boy. She made it sound like she's my slave. **_(-_-)_** But her French accent made it so cute. "Your name is Neige."**_(Very appropriate name to go with the accent)_** I say. "Yes, Master." Neige smiles. "Can you say 'hi' again?" I say. "Hi." she happily repeats herself. "One more time." I say. "Hi." she smiles once more. "Yup. That's it. Guys, I'm in love with Neige's voice." I say as if it were nothing and purse my lips. Neige twirls her hair around her finger and buries her face into her large collar to try to hide her blush. "What?" asks Skye put of what I detect is jealousy. "I'm not gonna lie. And I'm not gonna deny it. I'm in love with her voice and it only took 30 seconds." I state just as simply and easily as my last statement.

I show Neige the house and introduce her to everybody to get her used to everything. Once the tour is over I sit next to Skye on the couch and put my hand on top of hers. "Okay Jordan, you can stop." she says suddenly. "Um, what?" I say confused. "I get that you love me but lately you've been really...clingy." she says. "Whoa whoa whoa. Wait a minute. Do you know _why_ I haven't separated from your side? _Why_ I've stayed near you as much as possible?" I start to raise my voice. "Oh God, you got him started." Jason says. "Bad move." Raphael follows up. And they're right.

"Why I bring you anywhere I go?! It's because I'm _protecting_ you. Because after that first night I knew you wouldn't last without someone to fall back on! How do you think I would feel if something happened to you, huh? I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if you got hurt on my watch. And I wouldn't be able to _live_ with myself if you got killed on my watch! And you know what? Fine," I force myself to calm down. I'm really easy to piss off and I don't want to blow up at Skye. "Have it your way. I'll back off. From now on you go where you want, do what you want, and I'll leave you alone. I go somewhere, you don't come if you don't want." I say. This cuts kind of deep. Here I am, making sure she stays alive. And she takes it as me just being annoying.

I get up and walk to the door. I need some way to vent the anger I just built up. I hear footsteps follow close behind me and turn around, expecting to see Skye. Instead I see Neige. "Where are you going?" I ask her. She looks a bit afraid of me after my little outburst. Yet she doesn't fail to respond. She puts her fist on her heart and says, "I-I was created as a guardian. I will protect Master at all costs and guard him with my life. As is my duty!" she says still seeming a bit scared of me. Her voice instantly calms me down and I can't help but chuckle. "Oh my God, you're so damn cute!" I say starting to break into a laugh. I smile and put my hand on her shoulder. I look her in the eyes and say, "Look. I'm not about to force you to protect me. You may have been created for nothing more than bodyguarding but you have free will. From now on you can do whatever you want." I say to Neige, smiling kindly at her. Her face goes from scared to shocked to confused. "But Master, I want to protect you! It's what I'm made for!" she says. "Neige, you're cute. And you seem like a nice girl. I can handle myself. Which means I'm not letting you put your life on the line for me." I tell her.

Neige looks at me and her eyes start to tear up. She throws herself onto me and hugs me tightly as she cries. "Thank you. Thank you Master." she cries onto me. "Call me Jordan. You're not my slave. You're not my bodyguard. You're my friend." Neige hugs me tighter and I return the hug. "Stop crying. You have a nice face. What's the point in staining it with tears?" I say. Neige looks up at me and smiles before pulling out of the hug.

"I'm leaving." I can feel the jealousy radiating from the girls in the house. "Wait!" calls Ana's voice. She runs down the stairs and stops in front of me. "I'm coming too." she says. "You're supposed to be sleeping." I tell Ana. "Your voice woke me up." she says. "You know what? I don't even care anymore. Let's go." I walk out the door without another word and Ana follows closely behind me. "Where are we going?" Ana asks. "The Mining Dimension. I'm supposed to take down Herobrine and I'll need speed." Upon hearing that I faintly hear the sound of an Enderman warping. But it's broad daylight, there aren't any Enderman out. Which only leaves...Andr. "The what?" Ana asks. "You'll see." I say.

As we walk I quietly start to sing. "Even if the sky is falling down." I recite. "What? Where is that coming from?" Ana suddenly says. "Are...are you doing that?" she looks at me. "Doing what?" I ask. "That noise." she says. "You mean my singing?" "'Singing'?" Is she making fun of my singing? "Alright, I get it. I'll stop." "No, don't! I...I liked it." "Do you not have singing here?" "No."_**(;_; so sad)**_ "What do you do for music?" "We have note blocks." "I feel so bad for you. Okay. I will show you the wonders." "What?" "This song is a good one."

"You oughta know. Tonight is the night to let it go.

Put on a show. I wanna see how you lose control.

So leave it behind 'cause we have a night to get away.

So come on and fly with me as we make out great escape.

So baby don't worry. You are my only. You won't be lonely. Even if the sky is fallin' down.

You'll be my only. No need to worry. Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!

Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!"

Even if the sky is fallin' down!"

I step on a red and pull a mesmerized Ana through the resulting portal.

"Just let it be. Come on and bring your body next to me.

I'll take you away. Turn this place into our private getaway.

So leave it behind 'cause we have a night to get away.

So come on and fly with me as we make out great escape.

Baby don't worry. You are my only. You won't be lonely. Even if the sky is fallin' down.

You'll be my only. No need to worry. Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!

Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!

Ooh are you down?

Even if the sky is fallin' down like she 'spodes to be.

She gets down low for me.

Down like her temperature, 'cause to me she zero degrees.

She cold; over-freeze.

I got that girl from overseas.

Now she's my Miss America; now can I be her soldier, please?

I'm fightin' for this girl, on the battlefield of love.

Don't it look like Baby Cupid sendin' arrows from above?

Don't you ever leave the side of me. Indefinitely, not probably.

And honestly, I'm done like the economy.

Baby don't worry. You are my only. You won't be lonely. Even if the sky is fallin' down.

You'll be my only. No need to worry. Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!

Baby are you down, down, down, down, down?

Doooooooown! Doooooooown!

Even if the sky is fallin' down!"

I guess I lost myself in the singing and dancing because when I finish and realize my surroundings I have Ana pinned to a tree and our faces are an inch apart. Ana looks nervous and is blushing deeply. Before I can back off of her she grabs my face and kisses me. The kiss feels good but it's also really, _really_ wrong. I push Ana off of me. "Ana, I'm dating Skye." I say. "I...I'm...I'm so sorry!" she says embarrassed and ashamed. "I just couldn't take it any longer. You never even look my way but I really want you to know that...that I love you!" Ana says. As much as I knew and expected it, the words still hit me like a sandbag. "Yell at me. Hit me. Beat me for all I care. Just notice my feelings! Acknowledge my existence!" She says, now with tears streaming down her cheeks. I can't look at her like this. I'm about to take a big risk. If I do this it'll help Ana but hurt Skye if she finds out. But if I don't do it, Ana will stay in emotional pain. There's no good way out. Then again, if you can't find a door, you just make your own.

I grab Ana's face and press my lips against hers. When I pull away her eyes are wide and the tears have stopped. "Jordan...but what about Sk-" she starts. "Look at me. I love Skye. But I'm doing this as your friend. I can't stand to see you in pain. If this is what it takes to make you fell better I'll pay the price." Ana's face lights up and she jumps on top of me and starts kissing me again, knocking me onto the ground on my back and leaving her on top of me in the process. Ana kisses me passionately before lifting herself and sitting upright with her butt in my lap. She bites her lip and looks at me through lust-filled eyes. "Jordan," she says "I want you."

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_**O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O Whaaaaaaat?! Alright I'll end this chapter here. Sorry for taking so long with this upload. I go back to school Monday so I've been really busy lately with back-to-school shopping sessions and whatnot. And my laptop is broken so I'm stuck writing from my phone, which is kind of annoying. As always, follow, favorite, review. You know the deal.**_

_**KTHXBAI**_


	11. Cheater

_**I don't intend to make excuses as to why it's been a month. **_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Cheater**

"Jordan...I want you."

Well shit...

_**Right off the bat lemon warning! Skip ahead if you don't want to read!**_

My eyes go wide when I hear the words come out of Ana's mouth. For the first time in my life I have absolutely nothing to say to something. Ana's hand travels down into her shorts as she sits on top of me. "Jordan, please. Fuck me." she says, biting her bottom lip as she plays with herself. As I watch her masturbate under her shorts I can pretty much feel the blood in my body flow down south. Ana's eyes go wide for a split-second then she looks at me seductively as she feels my oncoming boner underneath her.

Ana uses her free hand to stroke my semi through my jeans, making it become a full-on erection. Ana's eyes widen once again at the size of the bulge in my jeans. "Looks like you want me too." she says with a lustful smile, rubbing circles on my chest with her finger. Ana reaches into my jeans and starts to rub my hard member. "How about we satisfy one another?" she licks her lips and starts to stroke me. She bends down and kisses me. I subconsciously let out a moan from her stroking and she uses that brief moment to slip her tongue into my mouth, exploring anywhere her tongue can reach.

I regain my senses and fight her back in our tongue battle, which I end up winning. At this point Ana's Palm is soaked in the precum leaking from my dick. Ana breaks the kiss and I unbutton and unzip my jeans and pull them down along with my boxers; my full erection springs to life like someone hit a switch. I toss both articles of clothing aside, not really caring where they land. Next I push Ana off of me and climb on top of her. "You ever done this before?" I ask, pulling down her shorts to reveal her soaked black and gray striped panties. I throw them in the same direction as my clothes. "Not with anything other than my fingers." Ana replies breathing heavily. "Wait so you're-" "A virgin? Yes." I stare at Ana in amazement. Ana, the spider girl who was probably gonna molest me when we first met, still a virgin. "This'll hurt." I say. "I'm ready." Ana replies.

I pull off Ana's wet panties and throw them to the growing pile if clothes. I position the two of us the same as before. Ana slowly lowers herself onto my dick, wincing in slight pain as she lowers herself until I hit her hymen. "On 3, okay?" I say to Ana, who nods eagerly and afraid at the same time. "1...2.." I don't finish the countdown as Ana slams herself down on me. The spider girl kisses me intensely to stifle her painful screaming. Tears roll down her cheeks and blood starts to flow out of her vagina and trickle down my dick. "You ready to keep going?" I ask. Ana frantically shakes her head. Tears stream down her face yet she refuses to make any noise. This is just like the first Skye and I had sex. She just sits on my hard dick for a few minutes as she regains herself.

"You okay to continue now?" Ana nods with pain still visible on her face. I slowly start to thrust into her, nice and easy. She yelps in pain at first but slowly stops as I keep going. I take this as a sign to go faster. As I thrust into Ana quicker, she goes from a scared little girl into a horny, lustful woman. She starts to bounce up and down, quickly matching the pace and rhythm of my thrusting. "Oh, Notch, YES!" she exclaims happily. "Faster! Harder! Deeper!" Ana yells. I easily comply. It's not I wouldn't have done it anyway.

"Ana, at this rate I'm gonna cum soon." I say, breathing rapidly. "I'm close too." she says. Suddenly she stops, breaking our rhythm and causing me to stop. "Why'd you stop?" I ask. "I want you to cum in me." Ana says and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling my face close to hers. "That could get you pregnant." "I want to. I want give birth to your child, Jordan." "And how, exactly, would I explain you suddenly getting pregnant to Skye?" After our sudden pause I start to get anxious and slowly start to thrust into Ana again. "We-mph-can hide it." "For maybe three months!" "Well then there's a-nngh-compromise." Ana climbs off of my dick and lays back on her back, spreading her legs and using her hands to spread her ass cheeks apart. "Fuck my ass, Jordan." Ana bites her bottom lip. "You know, you were really quick to recover." I waste no time in crawling to her and positioning myself in front of her back opening before quickly thrusting my cock into her ass. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!" Ana half-screams, half-moans. I grab Ana's legs and prop them up on my shoulders as I fuck her hard in the ass. "Oh my Notch, you're so big!" Ana says. "And your so tight!" I reply. "Oh, here it comes!" she says. I thrust a few more times and a stream of Ana's girl cum squirts all over my chest, which is still covered by my shirt.

My next thrust puts my full nine inches inside of Ana's ass as I shoot cum into her. Ana moans in a way that makes it sounds like she's melting. She bites her bottom lip with a cute smile on her face and her eyes almost seem to roll back into her head. Alp signs of how much pleasure she's in right now. I fill her tight hole with as much cum as I can before pulling out, still cumming a little bit. Anything that didn't come out in her ass finds itself on her slender stomach. Ana and I look each other in the eyes, she has a smile plastered on her face that says that she can't even think straight. I give Ana a kiss and her head tilts back as she falls asleep. That's right, she still hasn't gotten her full night of sleep.

I walk to our small clothing pile, still half-erect, dropping to my knees as I pick up what's mine. I glance at Ana's still wet panties, quickly feeling overwhelmed. I can't help myself. I grab the black and gray cotton panties and put them against my nose, taking a long, deep inhale. Ana's smell alone gets my semi to a once again full boner. I need this; it's a rare occasion when I'm satisfied with just one release. I let out a long moan on the exhale. I wrap the wet panties around my shaft and start to stroke. I move the wet cotton tunnel faster and faster. First I cheat on my girlfriend with a half-spider girl, now here I am, on my knees using that spider girl's panties to jack off. My life has gotten seriously fucked since I showed up here. When you look back on situations like this you know you're wrong. But hell. In the spur of the moment what are you gonna do about it? I continue to masturbate with Ana's panties. I let out a moan as I shoot string after string of sperm onto the ground.

**_Lemon over! Resume reading here!_**

I take out a few sheets of paper that I crumpled up enough to resemble tissue. I use these 'tissues' to clean up Ana before I re-clothe her and myself. I pick up her sleeping body and carry her piggyback style. After a few hours of wandering I get tired and take a rest. I put Ana down against the stone wall at the base of a mountain and sit next to her. Just about a minute after starting to rest I see what I came here for. A small green dinosaur runs past at an amazing speed. "Son of a bitch." I say as I get up and run after the velocity raptor. I'm not fast enough to capture it but eventually it corners itself. I take out an apple and give it to the raptor. The green lizard accepts and immediately calms down. As this happens I feel power surge through me, specifically in my legs. I run back to Ana at twice my normal speed. As if I wasn't fast enough, now I'm even faster.

I return to see Ana waking up. God dammit. "Can't you ever stay asleep?" I ask her. "I can't help but feel unsafe when you aren't around." she replies. "If that's flirting, stop. I'm not a flirt." I say with a straight face. "Where are we going now?" Ana asks curiously. "Back to the Overworld. I got what I came here for, and I don't mean having sex with you." I turn around and start to walk. "Don't deny. You know you liked it." Ana says seductively, making me stop in my tracks and face her. "You know, if Skye ever found out about what happened here, I bet she'd be furious." Ana looks at me with a troublemaker's look on her face. "I'm gonna stop you there. 1: You _never_ blackmail try to me. 2: What happened here stays here. _Got it_?" I look at Ana seriously. "I don't know. Something may just so happen to slip out." Ana says with a mixture of mischief and innocence. Fucking bitch.

"I know you want to be with me. But here's the thing. If you say _anything_ about what we did to Skye, and I mean _anything_, and it ruins our relationship, I will hate you. I will fucking _hate_ you. And I won't stop. So if you plan on telling her I suggest you have a backup plan on where to live." I say, my eyebrows furrowed and my eyes narrowed. "I-I can go back to my cave." Ana stutters out of what can only be fear. "Can you, now? Interesting. Cupa was cast out of her cave for following me. I assume the same happened to you. Which means you're not going back there. Anything else?" I say. Ana looks at me before letting out a defeated sigh.

I start to walk in no general direction, with Ana and the Velocity Raptor close behind, when I hear a roar and see a large shadow block out the sun. We look up to see a large colorful dragon flying overhead. Ana starts to mildly freak out as I stare in awe. "A Leonopteryx..." I think out loud. "A what?" Ana asks. "A tameable dragon." I say as I start to run in the direction. Ana tries to follow and, of course, can't keep up. Well at least my speed boost can keep clingy mob-girls away for a limited amount of time.

I follow the Leonopteryx to its large basin-shaped nest. I wait for Ana to catch up before doing anything else. After a minute or so she's hunched over next to me, gasping for oxygen. I take out some raw beef and inspect the nest. "Why do you have raw beef with you?" Ana says between gasps. "A good Minecraftian is always prepared for anything," I reply. "You're a spider-human thing; you can climb up there right?" "Yes." Ana says. "Good. Hold this." I toss the raw beef at her without giving her time to respond and walk forward. I build up to the top of the basin, stopping two blocks below the edge. No need to waste blocks. I jump up to the top block and pull myself up to see the Leonopteryx we followed sleeping. "You now." I whisper as loudly as possible to Ana.

Ana climbs up the basin with no trouble at all. "Wow!" she says loudly in amazement. Too loud. The Leonopteryx wakes up. This may make my task at hand a bit more complicated. Ana, without hesitation, runs towards the dragon. He **_(I choose to believe it's a he)_** quickly chomps at Ana and would've got her too if I didn't tackle her out of the way. "You're going about this wrong," I say, while still on top of Ana. "We must tame the beast and then we can ride it to victory." I take the raw beef out of Ana's hands. The Leonopteryx lunges at me and I chuck the raw beef into its mouth and roll out the the way. Its jaws snap shut right where I'd been less than a second ago. His face softens and becomes docile as he, I assume, swallows the raw meat.

I mount the Leonopteryx's back and reach down to Ana, who stares, dumbfounded, at really wasn't that great of a move. I guess my badassness just knows no bounds. Ana takes my hand and pulls herself onto the Leonopteryx's back with me. I grab onto anywhere I can on the Leonopteryx and Ana grabs onto me. The beast takes off as simply as a bird would. Ana bursts with excitement, having never had an experience like this. "This. Is. Amazing!" she screams in ecstasy. Too bad we won't be able to do it for too long. We'll have to land to find a red ant to go back to the Overworld. Ana laughs in sheer enjoyment. She's happy, so we'll do this for a little longer.

After flying for a few more minutes, I land the Leonopteryx and find a red ant. I step on it and Ana follows me through the portal. Once in the Overworld, the Leonopteryx, who was too big to fit through the portal, materializes within seconds. The Velocity Raptor, who hadn't been with us when we went through, materialized as well. I climb back into his back along with Ana. "Onward!" I say as the colorful dragon flaps his massive wings and takes off. I fly back to the house, landing my new pet dragon on the roof with a thud most likely audible from inside.

Everyone runs outside, presumably to inspect what they just heard. After a few seconds of silence Skye says, "Jordan..care to explain what's going on?." I slowly peer over the edge of the roof to the small crowd down below. "I have returned!" I say triumphantly as I stand up. "No shit!" Raphael yells up at me. I start to climb down from the roof. "What _is_ that?!" Jason exclaims. As I hit the earth below me I say, "Hace you never seen Avatar?" "No!" he says hysterically. "Me neither." "That's not answering my question!" "His name is Leon; he lives on the roof now." "..What?!"

I walk into the house and take a seat on the black couch. Skye sits pretty much in my lap. "What happened to being too clingy and personal space or whatever?" I ask with a cocked eyebrow. "I missed you. You just left for hours and didn't tell anywhere where you were going. And to top it off, you took Ana with you." Skye says. "Don't worry nothing happened._ Isn't that right, Ana?_" I say. "That's right. I tried but he didn't respond to my advances. He's a keeper. Don't let him go, you never know who'll snatch him right up." she says. You're overdoing the fuck out of this performance, Ana. I notice Neige watching me and Skye as if she's taking notes in a class.

"So, what'd we miss while we were out?" I ask. "Andr lef- Jason starts only to be cut of by said half-Enderman. "I needed some time alone, so I headed out for a while." Andr says frantically. I know she's lying. I have an amazing bullshit detector. For now I won't say anything; I need to keep a closer eye on her.

"I'm going upstairs to take a nap." Skye says. "A'ight." I say. She gets off of me, giving me a quick peck on the lips, and makes her way up the stairs. Once she's gone Neige makes her way over to me and lies down on me just like Skye was. "Neige...?" I ask. "Yes Mast-Jordan?" she replies innocently. "Why?" I ask simply. "Miss Skye was doing this." "'_Miss_ Skye'?" "Am I doing something wrong?" "...Yes. Everything. Skye, and only Skye, can do this." "Yes Mast-Jordan." Neige climbs off of me as Skye screams. Not even a second later Draco rushes down the stairs and into my lap like an excited dog.

"Okay, you're big." I groan, petting Draco like a dog. "How can you treat that thing like a pet?" Jason looks at me. "Are you saying he can't be a pet just because he's not a cat or a dog or something? Just because he's different? Racist." I say back to him. "He will smash your head in his jaws." he says. "A house cat would have better luck doing that. Since you clearly don't know shit about animals I'll tell you a Komodo Dragon's bite is _weak_. Seriously. I might be able to bite harder than one if I tried." I continue to pet the giant lizard.

"Wait. If only Draco came down, then the snakes are still-" I'm cut of by another scream from upstairs. "Here they come." Ana says. Just as she says that the twin snakes slither their way down the stairs and wrap themselves around my legs. "Don't worry I wasn't planning on moving or anything." I say. "Andr, do me a favor and grab some meat from the fridge?" I ask. "Uuuuuuuuugggggggghhhhh." She groans. "Oh come on! How can you possibly be lazy when you can warp?!" "But it's _so much_ effort." "Fuck you too, then. Neige, can you get me some meat from the fridge?" "Yes, Mast-Jordan." "If it's that much effort just call me Master." "Yes, Master." Neige hurries to the kitchen. "Reverse slavery." Raphael comments. "You shut your whore mouth!" I yell at him.

A minute or so Neige returns with arms full of various meats. Chicken, porkchops, beef, turkey, you name it. "Good, now dump it right there." I tell her. The snowgirl complies. The reptiles quickly rush to the meat all over the floor. "Smart." Ana says. "That was nothing." I reply. "Jordan!" Ana says with a suddenly excited expression on her face. "What?!" I say, mocking her excitement. "I have an idea. Do that thing your mouth again!" she says, making everyone in the room's eyes go wide. "You know, that thing you showed me. You're really good at it and I really liked when you did it!" she continues, making everybody's eyes get even wider. Raphael, however has a face conveying the sheer enjoyment he's clearly experiencing. The sex with Ana had nothing to do with my mouth so that can only leave one thing. "You mean _singing_?" I ask. "Yeah, that." she replies. "...No." I say simply with a blank expression. "Come oooooooooonnn." the spider girl pleads. "Nope. Nein. Nah dah. Not happening." I say, my face continuously blank.

"Hell, I'd like to hear something." Jason says. "Huh. I must have Alzheimer's because I don't remember asking your fucking opinion." I say back, my inner asshole coming out. Honestly, I love my inner asshole; he stops me from completely being nice because that'd be boring and I'd be a pushover. I check my watch. **3:49 PM**. A while before sunset. Might as well get to know the world. "I'm heading out." I tell everyone and walk out of the house. I feed the horses and put Shadow's saddle and bridle on him. As I'm climbing onto the saddle Cupa comes out and asks me, "Where are you going?" "Excellent question. Maybe I'll tell you when I get back." I reply. Truth is I don't know where I'm gonna go. "Can I come with you? I...I really want some alone time with you." she looks at the ground shyly. Any normal anime protagonist wouldn't see the signs of a crush and obliviously let her come. But I'm no oblivious anime protagonist. "Sorry, party of one for this quest. I'll take you with me somewhere soon enough." I try to let her down easy. This is probably as good as it's gonna get. Without any more interruptions I begin to ride Shadow away from the house.

As I ride I occasionally hear the sound of an Enderman warping, pointing to Andr. I can't do anything about it at the moment though; I'll need more information first. After a few hours of riding in no general direction I find myself in a desert with a village coming into view. Might as well stop in for no reason. Upon getting closer I realize it's the same village I passed with everyone else on the day Skye tried to rob me. I ride into the peaceful and quiet village and hop off of Shadow. I grab his reins and he follows me wherever I go, like walking a dog. The first blocky villager I see walks up to me. "Hello good sir. Would you like to trade?" he asks. Well the people seem nice enough. "No, I'm just browsing." I say, looking around. "Okay. Feel free to see me if you need anything." the villager says. "Got it." I start to walk past him when I feel a pair of eyes on me. I look into the nearest house to see a head quickly disappear underneath the window. I don't feel like caring at the moment so I keep moving.

After spending a while in the village I mount Shadow and move on. A few more hours I find myself sitting on the edge of a large cliff overlooking the ocean. "Ah, Shadow. How the fuck did we end up here?" I ask the Dark Pegasus as if he can respond. The sun starts to set, making me realize how late it's getting. I mount Shadow once more and he gallops in the general direction of the house. On the way there something similar to an earthquake happens, nearly knocking Shadow off his feet. I pull on the reins and say, "Whoooaa." getting him to stop. I climb off of the Dark Pegasus' back and look around cautiously. Shadow seems to replicate my actions, probably not knowing what he's even doing. Then I see it! Through the trees stands a large, Hulk-like figure with blue jeans and a turquoise shirt.

"Shit!" I yell as the mutant zombie jump at me. I push Shadow out of the way and roll out of the area of impact. The mutant zombie smashes the ground where I and Shadow just stood. "Shadow, go! Fly home!" I shout to him and he does so. Even if they're animals, I'm not one for putting my friends in danger. "Alright, let's go asshole." I think out loud getting into a ready stance.

The beast charges towards me, probably going for its throwing attack. But I don't feel like being launched into the air right now. It barrels towards and I dodge. The mutant zombie hits a tree so hard he pretty much destroys it. The impact, however doesn't stop him; he charges once more, surprising me. I don't have enough time to react before getting wrecked. The last thing I see is a freakish Hulk-zombie barreling towards me before hitting me so hard I get knocked out.

* * *

**_Well that's finally done. As I said I don't intend to make excuses for being gone for so long. I just want all of you to understand that, due to school, my uploads will not be consistent. I'll end up squeezing out chapters whenever I can put in the time. I have nothing left to say so I'll see you guys in the next chapter. _**


	12. Jeff

_** I'm back from the dead. Soooooooooo sorry for the delay.**_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Jeff**

I open my eyes to the sight of stone walls. The area of the room I'm in is barely illuminated by dim redstone torches. I try to move and realize my hands are bound at the wrists. I look up to see rope from Mo' Creatures tied around my wrists and hanging from, laced through, and tied to iron bars on the ceiling. "Again with this shit." I think out loud. Upon further examination, I realize a few things: only my hands are bound, leaving my legs free, my gear is somewhere else in the room, and that I'm not wearing my shirt, glasses, or hat. I peer to the dark side of the room and see two silhouettes: one that appears to be sitting in a chair and another Hulk-like one that I assume is the mutant zombie from earlier.

"Rise and shine." says a voice balanced on a thin line between feminine and masculine. Oh God. This better not be who I think it is. "In case you're wondering, you've been here for about a half hour." says the voice as the silhouette stands up. "Thanks, I clearly wanted to know how long you waited to commence the raping." I comment sarcastically.

The figure on the other side of the room starts to approach me, gradually becoming more visible. Once in good enough view to distinguish features my heart starts to beat a little faster as I slightly panic at who I'm looking at. The figure in front of me has green hair, a torn teal hoodie with the sleeves mostly missing, blue jeans, and a pair of black and teal sneakers. The half-mob that kidnapped me is Yaebi, Mob Talker's zombie and only male. _**(That's right. Yaebi's a boy. Trust me on this, I did my homework for this story)**_No! Nope! Nuh-uh! No way! Fuck this! Hell to the fuck no! This is _not_ happening!

"Let's cut to the chase, Yaebi; you're gonna try to rape me. Now let's make an agreement; you let me go now and I don't kick your ass." I stay calm and collected on the inside. "You seem to know who I am so I assume who know what I am as well." Yaebi says. "Species _and_ gender, yup." "I'm impressed. But enough talking. Now, I get to have fun with you." says the zombie boy. I notice a phallus-shaped outline in his jeans. Nope! NopenopenoenopenopeNOPE! There is _NO WAY _this is happening! "I'll give you three seconds to reevaluate your decision. After that I'm not holding back." I say calmly, as if I wasn't in danger of being raped. Yaebi approaches me once more. "Three." I start the countdown. He unfastens my belt, unbuttons, unzips, and pulls down my cargo pants. "Two." I grab onto the rope around my wrists and get as good a grip as I can. Yaebi reaches for the hem of my boxers. "One. Time's up. I hope you've got your will written out and ready to go."

I jump up, using the rope to pull me further, and use both of my feet to deliver an astonishing kangaroo-style kick to Yeabi's chest. He flies back a few feet before landing on his ass and clutching his chest, heaving heavily. I turn toward the wall and climb up it, using the rope to stop me from falling, to the iron bars on the ceiling. I put as much of one hand as I can on the bars, plant my feet firmly against the wall, and start to unfasten the knot on the bars.

"Fuck." I say under my breath as I struggle with the knot. I even start to use my teeth to help. Once the knot becomes loose enough, I drop to the ground and the rope seems to finish unfastening itself and falls to the ground with me. Almost immediately after hitting the ground the mutant zombie charges at me like a rhino. I roll out of the way and he crashed hard into the wall behind me. I see my window of opportunity and climb onto the beast's back, grabbing the other end of the rope and wrapping it around his neck. The next 15 or so seconds are a game of mechanical bull as I struggle to stay on the frantic and frenzied monster's back as he desperately tries to throw me off. But eventually he slows down and completely stops, falling to the ground.

I turn around to see Yaebi, now breathing more or less properly, holding one of my ultimate swords pointed at me. "Bitches first." I say, perfectly timed with his attack. Right after I say that the zombie boy swipes downward with the sword. I sidestep the weak attack and as Yaebi fumbles directly next to me I bring my knee up hard, delivering a stunning blow to his stomach.

Yaebi fumbles to the ground before grasping the sword and swinging it wildly. I throw my hands in front of the incoming blade and it slices through the ropes with ease. "Now," I rub my wrists. "where were we?" Yaebi abandons the sword that had provided no help in stopping me. He posts up with his hands just above chest level. "Left your face exposed." I comment and deliver a quick jab to his face. As he's knocked back I roundhouse kick him, knocking him to the ground hard.

The zombie boys staggers to his feet once more. "You just love being a punching bag, don't you?" He swings his fist at me, a weak attempt at a hook. I block his fist with my forearm and it feebly falls to his side. I sweep his legs from the front and as the zombie boy falls forward I jam my elbow down hard on his back. This time he doesn't bother trying to get up."So," I walk over to my stuff in a pile in the corner of the small room. "what'd we learn?" The zombie boy groans in agony. "Exactly." I pick up and put on all my gear. "Well, I'd better be on my way." I take out my ultimate pickaxe and tunnel my way to the surface.

After a few minutes of walking, my house comes into view on the horizon, the only lit up thing in the darkness. Suddenly, I hear a not-too-distant howl. "Son of a bitch." I say, taking off in the direction of my house. As if my normal speed isn't high enough, thanks to the velocity raptor it's doubled. But my 17 or so miles per hour**_(about 27.4 km/h)_** still isn't fast enough to get away from the nearly 40 miles per hour**_(about 64.4 km/h)_** the average wolf runs. The sound of rapid footsteps emerges behind me and I run even faster, which I wouldn't have even thought possible. As I get closer and closer to the house, the sound of flitting behind me increases. I don't realize just how fast my pursuer is until I feel what feels like a human body tackle me. The tackle sent me and whatever caught me into the shadows of the forest. I tumble to the ground in the clutches of my pursuer and hear growling. The tumbling makes me end up on my back with a figure pinning my shoulders to the ground. The growling whatever-the-hell brings its head closer, presumably bearing its fangs, before stopping. I make out the motions of a nose twitching before hearing a deep inhale.

"Ph...pheromones!" cries the, now evidently, female figure in front of me. I kick her off of me and she falls into the light. Upon hitting the light, her features become distinguishable. The girl has brown eyes and long silver hair along with a matching silver tail and pair of silver wolf ears atop her head. Her mouth hangs open like a normal dog's, exposing her fangs. She's wearing...nothing. Absolutely nothing. Her bare, C-cup breasts completely exposed.**_(I made her up and threw her in because fuck the rules)_** And she shows no signs of giving any fucks. I get the feeling the two of us are gonna get along just fine. "You a wolf?" I ask calmly, not showing any emotion whatsoever. "Yup!" says the wolf girl in front of me happily. "Uh-huh. And why are you naked?" I ask, equally as calm and emotionless. "Wolves don't wear clothes!" she says. "Got it." I stand up, helping her up along with me. I now notice that she only stands at about 5'7". I take off my t-shirt, leaving me in my black a-shirt_**(the technical name for a beater/undershirt)**_. "Well, humans do." I hold the red t-shirt out to the wolf girl. Given her small size, the shirt'll decently cover her vagina. Her nose twitches before she snatches the shirt from me, holds it against her face, and takes a _deeeeep_ inhale, before letting out a semi-orgasmic moan. Oh God, another sniffer. This scene reminds me of my second day with Cupa.

The wolf girl quickly puts on the shirt, finally covering her bare breasts, before excitedly saying, "I'm Luna. What's your name?" Of course. Of course the wolf's name is Luna. Fuck it. Won't even question it. "My name's Jordan." I say holding out my hand. Luna shakes it eagerly. "Hey, I've got a question." she says. "Shoot." "Will you be my master?" Well she's certainly...something. "Uuumm...no?" Luna looks at me with big brown eyes, glassing over from tears. "Eeeeeehhhh, okay fine." "Ha! I got you with my puppy dog eyes!" "Ha! I got you with my pretending to give a fuck!" "Touché." "Indeed." After a few seconds of silence I turn around and start to walk to the house. When I don't hear footsteps behind me I stop and look back. "The house is this way. You coming or not?" Luna looks at me happily before quickly making up the distance between the two of us. The silver-haired wolf girl grabs my arm tightly as we walk to the house.

I approach the house with my new...whatever I should call her clamped to my arm, not willing to let go. "You're gonna have to let go of me." I say, starting to slip my arm from Luna's grasp. "But whyyyyy? It's so warm and Master smells so good." she whines. "Because there are four girls living here and you're bound to raise some eyebrows. Not to mention one of them is my girlfriend." Luna pouts at me. "Luna..." I say. "Fiiiiine." she says, giving up her innocent facade. Luna lets go of my arm and we walk into the house.

"I'm back!" I shout. "Where the Nether were y-" Ana starts but stops as I come into view with Luna. "Jordan...who, uh...who is this?" she asks. "I don't even want to get into it." I walk up the stairs and Luna follows me to me and Skye's room. Skye's sitting on the bed, seemingly worried. Her face fills with joy when I walk in. Her happy smile is quickly replaced with a frown and a glare as Luna walks in. "Who is _this_?" she asks, suspicious. "This is Luna; as of 5 minutes ago I'm her master." I open my "closet" and start to look through it. "How do you manage to find yourself in this type of situation?" Skye asks. "I honestly have no idea." I reply pulling out a pair of black gym shorts. "Skye can you give her a pair of your panties?" I ask as I close the drawer to the small wardrobe. "Why?!" Skye asks.

I simply walk over to Luna and hold up the bottom of my shirt, exposing the body part Skye probably wants to kill me for seeing. I say absolutely nothing and maintain eye contact with Skye as I lift the shirt. A few seconds later she says, "Okay, fine. Just put the shirt down. You're not aloud to look at that part of any other woman." "I know, I know." I say. Sky opens the nightstand closer whatever and instead of my clothes, her clothes appear. She takes out a pair of random panties and gives them to Luna, who puts them on. I take off my cargo pants and give them, along with the belt I was wearing, to Luna as well before putting on the gym shorts I took out of the closet. I walk into what was originally Jason's room but now belongs to everyone who doesn't sleep in my room. Meaning Jason, Raphael, Ana, Andr, and Cupa. In this room are Andr, Raphael, and Cupa. "Sup fuckers?" I ask. "Actually, Jordan, I wanted to see you about something." Andr says, slightly embarrassed. "Oooooooooooooohhh. Stuff's about to get _gooood_." Raphael instigates. "Shut your fucking mouth." I say to my Asian friend.

"I need to talk to you _in private_." Andr stresses 'in private'. I look at Raphael. "You. Out. Now." I point to the door. "Do I look like a fucking dog to you?" he says. "You like a bitch, so yes." "Fuck your wit and smart mouth." Raphael says, getting up and leaving. "You too." I say to Cupa, who puts up no fight and looks actually kind of afraid of me. "What do you want; I am _very_ irritable right now." I ask impatiently. "I'm...having nightmares." Andr looks at the ground, reddening from embarrassment. I stare at her with a blank expression for a few seconds before saying, "That's dumb. Fuck your shit. I'm leaving." As I turn around to walk out of the door Andr grabs my hand and looks at me through desperate purple eyes. "Please." she says in an undeniable voice, lightly squeezing my hand with both of hers. "Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine." I say.

Andr kneels down on her knees and I do the same in front of her. "What exactly am I supposed to do?" I ask the Endergirl. "I link our minds and send your conscious mind into mine. Once there, you do whatever you can to-" "Don't care. Let's get this shit over with." I cut her off. "Okay, fine." she says and grabs my head, pressing my forehead against hers. "Close your eyes." Andr says and I comply.

A few seconds after closing my eyes I feel my forehead get warm. My vision goes from complete darkness to a bright purple. The purple light seems to take a cylindrical shape, with the end farther from me a brighter and lighter shade of purple than the end behind me. I feel myself float towards the light end of the tunnel. Once I reach the end my entire field of vision is engulfed in a brilliant white light. Once the light fades I notice I'm on a _Minecraft_ beach next to a cliff. Suddenly, I hear Andr's voice at the top of the cliff. "Let go of me," she screams, "Put me down!" Unfortunately, I can't see the top of the cliff and don't see any quick way up from the side I'm facing. Andr's resistant screams continue, "No. don't! Please no! No no no!" After that I hear an ear-splitting scream of terror and I see a figure falling from the top of the cliff. It doesn't take a genius to know this figure is Andr.

I rush to the edge of the water and take off my shirt, shoes, and socks, finishing just as Andr hits the surface of the water. I waste no time in diving into the water and swimming as fast as I can to the water-sensitive Endergirl. Andr flails madly as she sinks deeper into the water, the whole time bubbles coming off of her like a tablet of alka-seltzer. As I get closer she continues to panic, more than before, losing precious oxygen. It doesn't take time for her to stop moving, having passed out due to lack of oxygen, meaning I'm running out of time to save her before she drowns or the water just plain kills her. Andr sinks slowly with one outstretched arm, as if she were reaching for me. I push through the water with all my strength and quickly reach her. I grab her hand and swim to the surface as fast as I can, having no more oxygen in my lungs either. Once our heads are both above the surface I wrap my arm around Andr tightly, holding her against my abdomen, and do a one-armed back crawl until we reach the shore.

Once we reach land I peel Andr's wet, thick, black jacket off of her body. I put my hands are her chest and push, but to no avail. I tilt Andr's head back and open her mouth, preparing her for mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. I press my lips against hers and start to blow air into her. A second after my lips make contact with Andr's she wraps her arms around me and passionately kisses me. I push her away and she looks up me. "Thank you! Jordan you saved me!" she shouts and pretty much jumps on me, wrapping her arms around me. "I did and I want a prize for it." I start to return the hug and a second or two later Andr disappears into Ender particles. She didn't warp-I didn't hear the sound-she just...vanished.

Right after Andr's Ender particles scatter into the air, seemingly carried by an unfelt wind, everything fuses together into the same purple light tunnel I was in a few minutes ago. I once again float to the light end and am enveloped in a bright white light. Suddenly my real-world senses snap back into action. I feel something familiar touching my lips. I open my eyes to see that Andr is kissing me. I...should've seen this coming. I push her away, just as I had done in her mind, and stand up. As I stand I hear rapid, scattering footsteps from behind the door. "I assume we're done here." I say once I'm on my feet. "Yeah, the nightmares should stop now." Andr says. "Good, now I can stop pretending to care." "One more thing," Andr says just as I reach the doorway, "Now that I sent you into my mind our minds are linked. I have access to your memories and the ability to read your mind and speak to you telepathically and vice versa." "I don't care." I say as I leave the room.

Now onto the next matter at hand: the footsteps I heard. There were definitely multiple people that went in separate directions. My immediate assumption would have to be that everyone in the house with a vagina is a culprit. Guess I'll check downstairs, where more people are, first.

As I walk downstairs I hear quiet chattering that stops just as I come into view. I peer across the room, scanning faces to read. Cupa is trying hard to not look at me and Anna, Jason, and Raphael are all trying to hide smirks. Don't tell me everyone in the house was crowded behind that door. "What'd you see?" I jump straight into the interrogation with a straight face. "What do you mean?" Jason says. "When you all had your faces pressed against the door. What'd you see?" "We have no idea what you're talking about." Anna says in her mischievous-innocent way of talking. "Cupa," I stare at the side of her head with furrowed eyebrows and narrowed eyes, "what did _you_ see?" Cupa, of all people, wouldn't be able to bring herself to lie to me. "N...nothing." she doesn't turn around to me. Seriously? I walk over to her, sit next to her put my arm around her. "_Cupa_. What did you see?" I repeat. I can see the side of her face get increasingly red. "Y...you and Andr...kissing." I stand up as if I'd never had my arm around the creeper girl in the first place. "Now was that so hard?" I say as I proceed up the stairs. As I climb up to the second floor of my house I hear Anna's voice say, "You ruin everything!" making a semi-evil smile spread across my face.

Once I reach the top of the stairs I first walk to the closed door of Cupa, Ana, Jason, Andr, and Raphael's room. Quite the crowd they've got living there. I look in through the four small, square windows of the door and see Andr sitting on the edge of her bed, a few fingers touching her lips and her eyes wide. She's in too much of a daze to notice me. Good. I narrow my eyes a bit and focus on her. Her voice soon fills my head. 'Now I can monitor how he feels about me. Once he realizes his true feelings he'll leave Skye and start dating me!' her voice says followed by a squeal. I walk away from the door and into me, Neige, and Skye's room, where Skye is sitting on our double-bed with her back toward me. "I assume you saw." I say simply. She just nods. "And you're mad." Skye nods once more. That's Skye for you. When she's mad she plays the silent treatment card. Same with me. "Watching the whole time?" I ask. Another nod. "Then you know how it happened and who kissed who and you being mad won't last long no matter how mad you try to stay at me." I say, not trying to talk my way out of anything. The only good thing for me is that I wasn't the kisser and had no idea it was happening or was going to happen in the first place, making me the innocent party.

"Well anyway, I'm going to bed." I lie down on my side of the bed and pull the red fleece over me-Skye doing the same on her side, but with her back faced to me. "Oh come on, is that necessary?" I say. She ignores me. Alright. Whatever. I turn my back to her as well and rest my head on the cool pillow**_(_**_**I threw pillows into this story because why not)**_. I look down to the foot of the bed to see Luna curled in a ball.

I also see Neige walk through the door into the room and sit down on her bed right next to my side of me and Skye's bed-her place of choice. She takes off her big snowman-resembling winter coat and puts on next to her bed. Under her coat was a white t-shirt-that seemed a little tight on her if you ask me-and a pair of orange-brown shorts. She lies down on her bed and pulls her fleece over her. Now is when she notices me watching her. Neige gives me her cute signature smile that just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside and I can't help but smile back. I close my eyes and begin to slowly drift away from reality and into my subconscious imagination. It doesn't seem to last long though.

After what seems like a few minutes of sleep something makes me slowly start to become conscious again. Maybe it's the bed. With my eyes still closed, I shift my body a bit into a different position. No, just as comfortable as before. Right after I finish shifting I here footsteps walking over to my bed. My eyes start to slowly open and next to me all I can with my current field of vision is a pair of black jeans. The person next to me kneels down next to me. the moment his face comes into view I nearly have a heart attack and am immediately snapped out of my half-asleep state into full consciousness. The person next to my bed is wearing a white hoodie along with his black jeans. The good is down, revealing his long, black, hair. His face and the rest of his skin is completely white as if it'd been bleached too much. His eyes look a little too big for his sockets yet look like they're sunk into them. Sunk in but still bulging out at you. His mouth-his fucking mouth-is slit open on both sides along the cheeks, almost all the way to where his ears are. If being slit open wasn't enough, plastered onto his mouth is a psychotic smile that shows his level of mentally instability. Jeff the Killer is in my house. _My_ fucking house. Thank God I woke up or he probably would've killed everyone here.

"Shhh. Nothing to worry about here. Just go to sleep. Go to sleep." As Jeff stands up and readies his knife I silently slip my leg out from under the the red cover. I quickly kick him hard directly behind the knee. Caught off guard, the creepypasta crumples to the ground. I quickly jump out of bed and deliver a kick to the side of his face. I look around frantically for my ultimate swords. And I find them. Conveniently located right behind Jeff. No time to hesitate; I need to take the chance! As I advance to the swords Jeff tackles me hard. The two of us hit the ground with an audible thud. Jeff, on top of me, brings his kitchen knife up and, with both hands, jams it down straight toward my face. I catch his hands with the tip of the blade stopping about an inch above my right eye.

I hear a groan come from Neige. "Uuuunngh. What's with the noise Master?" Out of my left eye I see Neige, now sitting up, rubbing her sleepy eyes. "Master..." she groans. Jeff's strength slightly outmatches mine and his hand slowly gets closer. "M-Master!" she exclaims, eyes now completely open. Before I can say anything Jeff is being hit by a rapid-fire assault of snowballs. "Leave him alone! Get away from Master!" she exclaims. The killer loses his balance and falls off of me, dropping his knife. Luna, now awake, jumps off of my bed on all fours and starts to growl at Jeff. Luna lunges toward Jeff just as he stands up and sinks her fangs into his leg, wrapping her arms around it and refusing to let go. With all the commotion it only takes a few seconds for all residents of the house to be awake and in my room. I hurry to my feet. Luna and Neige both stop their assaults and Jeff and I stand, glaring at each other, both waiting for the other to make the first move. He lunges at me, swinging his fist and I dodge. He spins around and swings once more with his right fist, remaining stationary this time. I rotate my body a little bit to the right and bring my left arm up, blocking his punch with my forearm. I step in, closing the space between Jeff and me, and punch him hard in the stomach in one fluent motion. He staggers backwards from my counter and I take a split second to pick up his knife as he staggers. I deliver a low roundhouse kick to his side before following up with a vicious uppercut. I see my window of opportunity as his head tilts back. I quickly spin around, cutting deep into Jeff's exposed throat, a good amount blood spraying out in the process.

Jeff's eyes go wide and he clutches his throat that now resembles his mouth. He staggers backwards, coughing up blood, until he hits the wall behind him. Once against it he slides down it as his wide eyes turn blank and lifeless. As I stared, shocked, at Jeff's death his knife at some point ended up slipping from my grasp and hitting the wood floor.

"Master..." Neige says, looking at me shocked. I start to slowly walk to her without saying anything. The snowgolem looks at me through scared, red eyes and puts her hands out in front of her, presumably scared of me and trying to stop me from coming any closer. Yet I continue to advance toward her. Once I reach her I wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "Thank you," I say in Neige's ear, "Thank you Neige; you saved me." In my peripheral vision I see Skye glaring at me angrily but I don't care. Neige pulls out of the hug, blushing, and says, "I-It was nothing. I mean...I just...I don't want you to die." "So I'm important to you?" I ask. "No!" I cock an eyebrow. "I mean yes! I mean...you...you couldn't be my master if you died. Right?" "I guess not." I put my hand on Neige's head and scramble her hair a little bit before giving her a smile. She, even though her blush is very much visible, can't help but smile back. I turn around and look at Jeff's lifeless body as it begins to sublimate, vapor rising off of it like steam. Suddenly I feel sick to my stomach. I rush past the crowd at the door and speed down the stairs and out of the house. Once outside I drop to my hands and knees and violently vomit up anything and everything in my stomach.

I stay kneeling there for a minute before I feel a feminine pair of arms wrap around me and someone press the side of their face against my back. I turn my head the 90° that I can and see Cupa's head of fiery orange hair. "Please...don't ever do something like that again." she says. I can almost feel her emotions bitch slapping me over and over again. "There's no way to promise that I won't. This world's proving itself to be more and more dangerous every day. It's already clear that I'm not even safe in my own house. Considering that, I'll have to fight and I'll have to kill and I'll have to face it that in one of those fights...I just might die. And that's something I have to deal with. But one thing's for certain: If I don't fight, I _will_ die. No 'if's, 'and's, or 'but's about it." I say. Cupa hugs me tighter and starts to cry into the back of my shirt. "Please...don't die!" she says through her tears. "I'll try not to." I respond. I turn around and hug Cupa back, surprising her from what I can tell. Once I pull out of the hug I wipe away Cupa's tears and say, "You've got a cute face. Why ruin it with tears?" Upon hearing this she-as could be expected-blushes.

I walk back into the house and Cupa tails me. She splits off sadly at the top of the stairs as we go to our separate rooms. I climb back into my side of me and Skye's bed and Skye says something to me for the first time since I came back from the cave where a zombie boy almost put his dick in me. "Jordan...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad at you earlier. It was Andr who kissed you and I overreacted. I realized how stupid being mad was when I realized that you could've been killed just now and here I was being childish and purposely ignoring you." She can't even look me in the eye. "All of what you said was completely true. Your anger was entirely your own shallow perception of the situation and I could've died while you were busy giving me the silent treatment for something that wasn't my fault, making you feel like complete and utter shit." I reply simply. "Fuck you, you dick." Skye says, punching me in the arm. "I love you." I say. "...I love you too." Skye replies.

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_**And there you go. The long-awaited twelfth chapter. Sorry for the delay. I've been a mixture of being too lazy to write and too stubborn to discontinue the story. The result-as you can see-was a three-or-so month long hiatus. But now I'm back in action and get back into the flow of writing I was in for previous chapters. Anyway, thanks for reading. Follow, favorite, review, you know the deal. And until next time remember: I could've not written it at all.**_


	13. Chapter 13

**_Procrastination is a bitch. _**

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I wake up on my back, feeling someone else's body lying on top of my abdomen. I look next to me and see Skye sleeping peacefully. I lift up the red fleece to see Luna sleeping snuggled up against my body with an adorable, pleased smile on her face. "Master...so soft and warm..." she mumbles in her mostly-asleep state. One thing I notice about Luna is that she has an adorable light snore when she sleeps.

I slightly shift my position and Luna's pointy ears immediately perk up as she snaps awake.

She looks at me and smiles. "Good morning Master." she says. "I look at her, then down to my abdomen where she's laying, then back at her before, with a straight face, saying, "...Why...?" Though-being a dog owner on Earth-I already know that it isn't unnatural for dogs to snuggle up with their owners when they sleep. "Why?" Luna echoes before crawling farther up my body. "Master is warm and soft...so soft..." she buries her head into my chest. "Okay...I'm done. Get off." Luna climbs off of me almost sadly. I climb out the bed and stretch before taking off the black a-shirt that is worn all of yesterday. "Ooh! Me too!" Luna says excitedly before taking off the shirt I'd given her yesterday, once again showing me her naked breasts. "What the hell are you doing?!" I quietly yell, trying to make sure I don't wake anyone up. "Going bare-chest like Master." I just stare at her blankly for a few seconds before picking up my black, sleeveless shirt. "Put it on." I say dominantly. "No." Luna pouts. "Put. On. The shirt." I repeat. "I don't want to." Luna crosses her arms, standing her ground. I stare at her for a second before tackling her to the ground, a-shirt in hand, and attempt to force the shirt onto her body, starting by putting the collar around her neck_**(That is ironic)**_. "Put it on!" I quietly yell once again. "No!" the wolf girl continues to resist. "Do it before someone sees u-" at that moment a shadow falls over me and Luna. I look up to see an angry Skye glaring down at me. Shit! We've been spotted! The mission's been compromised! Bail! Seemingly with more strength than she has in her body, she reaches back before delivering a powerful smack to the side of my face.

About an hour later everyone had gotten up and started doing whatever it is they do day to day. I, in this case, happen to be sitting at the kitchen table, eating my fat person's breakfast of a cooked porkchop and a bottle of water, with a stinging pain in my left cheek and Luna at my side begging for forgiveness. "Please, please, please forgive me! I'm sorry I got you slapped! I put on the shirt!" She isn't lying. She's now wearing my black a-shirt after having put it on after I'd started ignoring her. I continue to eat in silence with my eyes closed and my eyebrows furrowed. Every now and then I'd open my eyes and give Luna a sideways glare for no longer than a second before closing my eyes and returning to my food. Whenever I did just so happen to look at her her face showed an expression of sorrow and sadness, presumably because she thinks I hate her not even 24 hours after meeting her. I hadn't said a word to her since Skye slapped me. Luna had been on her knees pleading for me to forgive her since about five minutes into the silent treatment. She'd begged through me bathing in the infinite water source outside the house, getting dressed for the day, and brushing my teeth. And I didn't utter a word to her throughout any one of them. Once I finish the porkchop I down the bottle of water, cross my arms, and sit for a minute to decide what to do. "Master, I'm sorry! I'll be obedient from now on! I swear! You won't get any more trouble out of me!" This time when I glance over at her, the half-wolf girl is almost in tears. "Please don't hate me, Master! I can't stand it!" she grabs my arm and pulls it closer to her, putting her hand in mine, probably expecting me to close my hand around hers. I pull my hand away from Luna's, stand up from my chair, and walk away, a punch to the gut for her. Instead of following me this time, Luna stays kneeling in that spot, looking down.

"Raphael! Jason! Dress for heat 'cause we're going to the Nether later!" I yell up to the second floor. Upon me saying this, Andr warps downstairs, standing directly in front of me. "Of all the places you could go, why are you going to the Nether?" she asks. "We need a bathroom." I say. "...Why? Most of us living in this house don't even need to...'relieve ourselves' in any way." There are definitely perks of belonging to this world. You don't need to do things that a normal human does. The half-mobs' mob DNA grants them freedom from ever needing a bathroom, aside from maybe a toilet if they have to throw up or something. Speaking of throwing up, I definitely need to get rid of that grass block with last night's dried vomit on it. The mob girls also don't need to eat nearly as much as the average human. Mobs don't need food, but when they do eat they don't even gain weight or anything, meaning the girls can maintain their figures for as long as they live, which-once again do to their mob DNA-is much longer than a human. Humans are the inferior race in every way possible here aside from our superior knowledge. "But the four humans that live here do need to. We also need to bathe, which I'm sick of doing outside in the open. And I need Nether Quartz to make the things that go into the bathroom. But first I need to go mining real quick to get some obsidian." "Why the hell don't you have obsidian already?" Raphael says from the staircase. "Why would I?" I reply. "...Touché..." he says before retreating back up the stairs. "Master..." Luna's voice comes quietly. "can I come...please?" I turn back to Andr and continue talking, "Anyway I'll be back in 10-20 minutes. If Shawn shows up here at all, shoot him in the face." I give Andr a bow. "Oh...I can't. I'm...not really any good with this." "You had one job Andr..." I sigh. "Ana!" I yell upstairs. "Yo." Ana's head hangs upside down in the space of the first floor ceiling cleared out for the stairs. "Take this. If Shawn shows up, shoot him in the face." I give her the bow. "Gotcha," she flips down to the first floor, gracefully landing on her feet. "my friend, Skellet taught me how to use these. Though I'm not that great of a shot like her." Ana takes the bow. "Good. The worse your accuracy is, the more shots it'll take to kill him and the more pain he has to take as he dies." It'd serve the asshole right. "There's probably arrows in Raphael's chest. Take some from there." I say. "Hey! I heard that!" yells the Asian. "I don't care!" I yell back at him. "He's fine with it." I tell Ana before hoisting my ultimate pickaxe over my shoulder and walking out the door.

It only takes about 30 seconds after I leave for Andr to start talking to me. **"What's wrong with the dog? As soon as you left she curled up into a ball on the couch and started crying while saying 'Master hates me.'"** her voice says in my head. **"Stupid shit. Don't worry about it; she'll be fine."** I reply.

* * *

I strike the last block of obsidian needed for the Nether portal with my pickaxe. I crouch down and pick up the small, black, igneous rock before wiping the sweat from my brow. Jesus Christ it's hot down here. Pools up lava surround me. A bat screeches somewhere in the darkness. Weird. Bats are normally asleep until they're disturbed by something. Or better said, _someone_. I close my eyes and focus my hearing. "Shit." a voice says, just barely detectable by my focused listening. Focusing harder, I hear light footsteps coming from...above me?

"YAAAAAHHHHH!" the voice from earlier screams as I feel the lower half of a small body land perfectly on my shoulders, accompanied by a small pair of hands covering my eyes. I didn't even flinch or even move out of the way when whoever-the-hell dropped down onto me. I just calmly stood and let it happen. "Ha! Scared the shit out of you, didn't I?" says an excited young girl. "Not really." I say calmly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sc-wait what?" she says, taking her hands off of my eyes and putting them on the top my head. I point to the bat that just so happens to be flying by us at the moment. "Work on your stealth then try again." The little girl, whom up til now I still haven't laid eyes on, makes an angry groan. "Maybe next time, kid." I say as she flips off of my shoulders and onto the ground like a professional gymnast.

I finally look at the girl and am not surprised to see who I see. "I'm Ari," she says, looking up at me with the same glowing red eyes and mischievous smile as Ana. "My older sister, Ana, told me all about you. Before she left, that is." "Did she now?" I sling my pickaxe over my shoulder. "Yeah. About your 'dark brown eyes that you get lost in as you stare into them'. Your 'amazing cocoa-brown skin'. Your 'seduction that'll just make you melt at your fingertips. Your-" "Okay, I get it," I interrupt the tiny girl. _**(Do I have to do a full description every time? Can I just assume that you know what the girl looks like?)**_Taking a moment to analyze her, I notice that she stands at about 5'1", though considering her thick-soled, knee-high boots I'd say about an inch of it isn't really her. "Ana talks about me a lot. She hasn't said anything about you to me though." I tell Ari. "Figures. She always has been kinda selfish, wanting everything for herself."

"So I've seen." I put my bag with the obsidian into the minecart I'd ridden down here. Not too long ago I'd taken the time to install a system of rails throughout my main mine to make mining quicker. As I raise my leg to climb into the minecart Ari grabs my hand. "Can't you stay a little longer? With Ana gone I never get to play with anyone." Ari looks up at me through desperate eyes that I swear she didn't have a second ago. "What about the other spiders? You know, the ones that aren't half human." I say, climbing into the minecart. "They're no fun! They're always 'following rules' and 'obeying the King' and other stupid, boring shit." "Maybe next time kid." I push my weight forward, pushing the minecart onto a powered rail and taking off toward the mine entrance.

* * *

I place the last block for the Nether portal frame and say down from the top to Jason, "Ready." and he lights the inside of the frame ablaze, the flame quickly expanding throughout the area of the frame's inside. I hang my upside-down over the edge of the top of the portal and stare in fascination at the wall of fire, only to be disappointed when it quickly turns into a swirling purple wall. I reposition myself on top of the portal so that my legs dangle over the edge. "I don't understand why I couldn't light it up." Raphael complains. "'Cause I said so. Now you gonna bitch or are you ready to go?" "Shut up and give me my shit." I toss him an ultimate sword and a full set of ultimate armor, doing the same to Jason and sliding off the edge and to the ground below.

Once the three of us all are suited up and ready to go I step into the portal. A few seconds in, my view of the Overworld swirls into a purple spiral before dissipating into the Nether. I step out with Jason and Raphael following a few seconds behind me. We all stare in awe for a few seconds at the landscape. It feels a hell of a lot different to be here in real life than it does to see it behind a computer screen. "It's so hideously beautiful..." I say, looking around. The heat would kill us in no time if it wasn't for the ultimate armor. The enchantments, unseen to the human eye except for on the armor, envelope and enhance our bodies. With the armor on, we stay however warm or cool we need to be to survive the current climate. "Alright, we're here for Nether Quartz and that's all. No adventuring or scavenging on this trip," I place a crafting table and craft three brand new maps, marking our current location on all three. "If we get split up, use these to either find the rest of the group or make your way back to the portal." I hand them their maps. "How much Nether Quartz do we need?" Jason asks. "Well...we need Quartz blocks and it takes four Quartz to make a block. Five for a toilet, five for a tub, six for a shower, and four for a sink. Plus eight for each cabinet but only one of those should do. So..." I pause for a few seconds to do the math in my head, "112" "Son of a bitch!"

* * *

I swing my sword just in time to hit a Ghast's fireball back towards it. The airborne grenade flies right past the Ghast and blows up some netherrack behind it. Typical. That always happens. Seemingly out of nowhere, another fireball shoots past me and erupts right next to Jason, with him just barely out of the blast radius. "Shit! There's another one!" he exclaims. "Where?!" Raphael yells. After a few seconds of looking I see it. "There!" I say pointing into the distance. "I got it." I advance in the Ghast's direction. It shoots a fireball at me and I just barely dodge it. Jason, however isn't so fortunate. The very fireball I dodged hits him square in the chest, sending him flying back into a hard netherrack wall and the blast knocking off his helmet. That would've killed him no doubt without his armor. But even so, we're only average humans with the average human damage threshold. Even with that armor, that had to cause some damage.

"Raphael!" I shout, pulling out my ultimate bow-the power of the enchantments coursing through my veins-and drawing an arrow. "On it!" he says, already armed with a regular bow, an arrow already flying through the air towards the weak underbelly of one the Ghasts. I look at the Ghast then Jason then back at the Ghast to see a fireball being shot from its mouth. In a split second I turn back to Jason, point the arrow at him, and let it go**_._**

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_**Sorry about the short chapter. I've been really busy with school shit and flat out procrastinating. This isn't the entire chapter 13 I planned but it's been so long already and I kinda just stopped working on this chapter after getting this far so I decided to put up what I have now, finish the rest later, then upload that when it's done. I honestly don't even have a title for this because it isn't the full chapter. I do plan on actually advancing the plot and introducing a few more OCs in the near future so look forward to that. But anyway I hope you enjoyed what little bit I have now and stay tuned for what's to come.**_


	14. The Nether's a Bitch

_**Let's see how fast I can get this one out.**_

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**Chapter 14: The Nether's a Bitch**

In a split second I turn back to Jason, point the arrow at him, and let it go. Immediately after the bowstring leaves my fingers I drop the bow, pick up one of the ultimate swords I dropped to pull out my bow, and smack the fireball back at the Ghast, this time hitting it. I alternate back to my ultimate now just as fast as I'd dropped it and picked up my sword. I wipe the sweat off of my brow before drawing my bow, focusing my aim, steadying my shot, and letting the arrow fly. It hits the Ghast right in its underbelly, finishing it.

Just as I regroup with Raphael, three more Ghasts show up to the fight. "This is too much to handle with just the two of us." He says, our swords ready and our backs to each other. "Shit," I look around for any type of safe haven for us. "In there!" I point to a Nether fortress in the distance. "Alright, let's go!" Raphael says. Right as he says that, Jason stands up and starts to limp over to us, only to stumble to the ground a third of the way. "Son of a bitch. Cover me!" I say to Raphael as I she ate my swords and run over to Jason, putting his arm around my shoulder and hoisting him up off the ground back onto his feet. "You owe me a life debt motherfucker." I say as I support him in the direction of the Nether fortress with Raphael covering our asses.

Once we're inside the fortress and isolated from the flying assholes trying to kill us, I toss Raphael an enchanted golden apple. "Feed that to him." "Why the hell do I have to do it?" He complains. "You can't expect me to do all the heavy lifting." I drop my bag full of Nether Quartz and unsheathe my ultimate swords, walking away from the two. "Where are you going?" my Asian friend asks. "To kill blazes. We need to secure this place before resting here." "You just said you wouldn't be doing all the heavy lifting." "Okay, you got me. I just don't want to do anything boring. So you're doing it." "Fuck you!" I continue to walk in the direction I was going in. "Who says I'm gonna do it?" "Somebody has to. He can barely use his limbs and I'm already pretty much gone." I say gaining more distance from the two. "I can't fucking stand you!" Raphael shouts behind me. "Take a number!" I comment back loudly enough for him to hear.

I walk alone the desolate halls of the Nether fortress until I eventually find a balcony with a blaze spawner. I unsheathe my swords and get ready for something to spawn. Looking down at the spawner, the flames inside begin to swirl around furiously. After a few seconds of rapid spinning the spawner, rather than instantly spawning a blaze, spits out a good amount of flames. These flames swirl around in the air before settling about a foot or so about the ground, all the while shooting sparks all over the place. After settling in one spot, the flames take the shape of an about 5'9" human before shooting in various directions to reveal Blazette, the Mob Talker Mod's blaze girl.

After her unnecessarily dramatic entrance, Blazette hovers where she appeared, arms crossed and staring at me condescendingly. I unsheathe my swords and sigh, "Damn. I thought I was gonna have a tough fight; instead I found you." "Who the hell**_(I'm having the mob-girls say "hell" instead of "Nether" now. It feels more natural)_** do you think you're talking to?!" the blaze girl shouts at me enraged, her blaze rods orbiting furiously around her. "I'm just saying I thought I would find something fierce, maybe some ghasts and a few normal blazes. Instead, you were here." I say disappointed. "I'll have you know you are speaking to Blazette: queen of the blazes and ruler of this dimension!" Blazette explodes. "'Queen of the blazes', 'ruler of this dimension'. That's cute; you're cute," I say, "Whelp. I've got nothing to do here. Might as well get back to my group." I turn around back to the hall of the Nether fortress. "Halt!" she commands me, throwing an incendiary fireball at me. I stop walking and turn around, mockingly saying, "Yes your majesty?" Blazette hovers over to me and floats to me at a level where our heads are the same height above the ground. Meanwhile, I feel an approaching presence behind me. Blazette angrily stares into my eyes with her fiery golden ones before grabbing my jaw, feeling it and tilting it side to side as if inspecting me. She then, without any words or hesitation,puts her hand on the back of my head, pushes my face toward hers, and leans forward, trapping me in an intense lip lock. After my initial shock, I push her back and wipe off my lips. Blazette looks me in the eyes and says, "You're mine."

"Having fun there?" Raphael's voice says behind me. I turn around not really very surprised to see not him and Jason in the opening for the stairs up to the balcony. "Fuck off." I say. "God, Jordan. How do you do it?" Jason asks. "At this point I've learned not to question it." I comment. Blazette grabs me and pulls me close to her, presumably protecting me. Not out of love or anything of the sort, however. She's trying to protect what she sees as her property. "Who are these fuckers?" she says, giving them both a glare that could melt glaciers. "Just a few assholes I got stuck with; no threat." I say. "Fuck you." Jason says. "Hey, I saved your life. How about some a 'Thank you'?" "And after saving me, you come here to make out with some random skank?" Blazette promptly readies a fireball aimed at Jason. He promptly draws his sword on her. "Easy," I say to Blazette, putting my hand on her chest and pushing her backwards a bit, "It's not worth it. He's got an ultimate sword and a more or less full set of ultimate armor. You'll be dead before you can make a scratch." Blazette, still armed with the fireball, doesn't exactly relax but does get slightly less tense. I walk over to Jason and lower his sword. I look him in the eyes with a straight face for about two seconds before punching him in his unprotected face. He stumbles back and I grab his chestplate, pulling him to where his face is about two inches away from mine. "You watch what you say, who you say it about, and, most importantly, who you say it _around_. Do we need a repeat of what happened in the ninth grade?" I say, referring to when I beat the living shit out of him for calling someone I consider family a slut. "No." He responds and I push him away. It may seem weird that I'm taking up for someone I just met, especially considering what she did right after meeting me. But I know she's not a bad person; she's just tsundere as fuck.

"We don't talk about what happened on this balcony. Got it?" I say sternly. "Yeah, fine. Whatever." He replies, massaging his cheek. "_Got it?_" I look at Raphael. "No promises." he says. I walk slightly past him before lunging backwards and elbowing him in the face. I immediately grab his chestplate and spin him around into the Nether fence railing, his upper body hanging over the edge. His helmet slips off of his head and into the lava below. If I let go he falls with it. "_Got it?!_" I repeat myself. "Okay, yes, got it." he says frantically, not having expected me to do this. I pull him back over the edge. He stumbles to the ground clutching his chest the best he can with that chestplate on and gasping for breath. The poor Filipino never could take horror. Simple horror gifs had his heart racing back on Earth so being in an actual situation like that must've given the poor bastard a mini-heart attack. "There goes my helmet. Thanks, asshole." he says in between gasps for air.

"That...was...barbaric," Blazette comments, "Punching and threatening the asshole, putting the squinting boy's life on the line, it was amazing! You will make a suitable husband for me." Ha. 'The squinting boy'. "I have a girlfriend." "I have no problem with polygamy." "But my girlfriend might." "Sounds to me like this girlfriend has to be disposed of." "Please don't."

"If you two are done we should probably get going." Raphael says. "Right. How much Quartz do you have?" Raphael opens up his bag, displaying the holographic inventory. "Fifty-eight." I open my bag just as he did." "I got sixty-three, so that's already more than enough. Jason?" I look at him to see him already checking his inventory. "Thirty-five." he says. "Step up your game, rookie." Out of the four of us humans who'd gotten stuff in Minecraftia, Jason was always the biggest noob. "We're good. Let's get outta here." I say and start to walk away when Blazette grabs my arm. "Where are you going?" "Back to the Overworld; our business here is done.""I will not allow you to leave!" Blazette clutches my arm tighter. "And what's gonna stop me?" Blazette looks at me angrily before grabbing me and pulling me to her, wrapping her arm around my neck and holding me like a human shield, our slight height difference making it a little awkward for her to do so. Jason and Raphael immediately draw their weapons. Looking closely at the two, I see that their breathing is labored and they're both sweating.

"Stand down. She's not much of a threat." I raise my arms to pry her forearm away from my neck. She wastes no time in grabbing me with her free hand and hoisting the two of us into the air over the edge of the balcony. She knocks off my helmet and it immediately becomes very difficult to breathe in the intense heat, especially given that I have asthma. I've gotta hand it to her, she's got a good amount of upper body strength to be able to do this. "I've decided that you will be my husband. I've already claimed you. Now, I'm going to make you _mine_." Blazette starts to fly me away from the Nether fortress. "P-" I manage to gasp out before being unable to breathe and wheezing for air. I'd tried to tell her to put me down but that clearly won't happen. I'm not stupid enough to put up a physical fight over a pool of lava without my head protected by the ultimate armor's enchantments. That shit'd cook me within seconds. That is if I didn't already have a heart attack from being let go. I see Jason and Raphael both lower their weapons and retreat, understandably now that I know how hard it is to breath here. Of course given my condition, it's much worse for me. I look around at my surroundings. Every second it's harder to breathe than the last. I wheeze and breathe rapidly, attracting Blazette's attention. Time seems to slow down as my oxygen deprivation brings me closer and closer to blacking out. The noise around me is dulled out and all I can hear is the sound of my rapid heart beat. In my last seconds of consciousness I look up at Blazette, who has a firm grip on me and extreme concern plastered on her face. Her scared face is the last thing I see before I completely black out.

* * *

_**Well there it is. Chapter 14 or 13.5 or however you want to see it. Snow days gave me a four-day weekend so that was cool. Back to school tomorrow though. Hopefully I'll be able to pull another chapter out of my magic hat again soon but until then I hope you've enjoyed everything up until now. And congrats to those who've stuck with this story and my irregular upload schedule for the past eight months. I'll try my best to get these chapters out more often to please all of you out there that take the time out of your day to read this. Well I hope you've been enjoying, still enjoy, and will enjoy the story in the future. I've got big plans for this story. Anyway I'll see you guys next time. **_


	15. Getting Hot in the Nether

My eyes snap open, as do my airways, as I suddenly gasp for air, now actually able to breathe it in. I immediately look around, trying to get a grip on what the hell is happening and where the hell I am. I look down and notice that I'm lying in a two-block-long 'tub' full of water. One thing I notice is that the bottom is made of snow. I look around and see Blazette walking to and suiting down on a block of netherrack. To the right of which is all my stuff, including all my clothes. _All_ of it. I feel my head and realize I'm wearing an ultimate helmet.

"How..." I start.

"Found that helmet close to my little hideout here. You passed out after yours fell off so I figured you needed one." Blazette explains.

This has to be the helmet Jason was wearing before the Ghast attack. I take a minute to try to examine what of the situation I haven't yet. "Where am I?" I ask.

"My dugout. It's where I planned to claim you as my own." she says, most likely meaning she planned on having sex with me.

"You made it?"

"No. Before your kind came to Minecraftia, a similar race used to widely inhabit it. They were just like you but blocky, just like everything else here. You could call them 'Cube Humans' Some still exist; they settled in villages and apparently prospered there, but most suddenly disappeared in a mass extinction of sorts. More appropriately, a mass endangerment." Blazette explains.

"So a Cube Human made this."

"That's a fair assumption. As you've witnessed, humans can't survive here without enchanted armor. Cube Humans, however, could. They may not have survived long, but some made things like this in the time they did."

"How'd you get this water?"

"As I said, the Cube Humans that attempted settling in this dimension normally didn't last long. They dropped all kinds of stuff when they die. Some, like the one that tried to live here, are generous and stupid enough to put stuff in chests," Blazette points to a chest in the corner of the room, "There were some ice and snow blocks in there."

I rise up out of the makeshift tub. "The water was nice but unnecessary. I didn't pass out from heatstroke; I couldn't breathe." Heatstroke occurs when your internal body temperature rises too high, but my body was still protected by the ultimate armor. I quickly make my way to my stuff and start to put my clothes on. **"Andr. Andr can you he-"** I start but get stopped by a sharp headache. To add insult to injury, I don't get any response.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. The Overworld." I look at my map to see only my blip. Figures; Raphael and Jason could only come back with ultimate helmets and my stash from the Goodness Tree is hidden where only Andr and I could know where it is and, while I'm in the Nether and she isn't, our whole 'minds are one' thing is blocked so she can't access my memories to find it. I only get to my jeans and sneakers before the coolness of the water starts to wear off and I start to warm up.

"Oh come on, you can't leave yet. I haven't given myself to you yet."

On the inside, my eyes go wide but on the outside I just kinda pause for a second before reaching for the next article of clothing. "Fuck it, it'll take too long to put on everything." I stuff my tank top I wore here into my bag.

"I said wait!" Blazette runs over to me before removing the ultimate helmet atop my head, the only thing that kept me breathing.

"You bitch." I say, using a little of the oxygen I had in my lungs when I'd been wearing the helmet. I reach for the helmet but Blazette flies up to the ceiling of the dugout. I run up the wall and do a wall jump toward Blazette, only for her to fly to the side, just as if she'd sidestepped me. I hit the ground barely getting any oxygen in the heat. I stumble backwards and hit a wall, sliding down it just like how that Jeff the killer that miraculously ended up in my room had done. My breathing becomes more and more rapid and labored as I begin to zone out. The last thing I see before blacking out is a slightly blurry Blazette walking over to me and kneeling in front of me. As I slip into unconsciousness, I hear a faint "I'm sorry."

* * *

My eyes open once more to the sight of Blazette and the netherrack walls of the dugout. There are a few things that set this apart from what happened probably minutes ago. This time, instead of lying in a makeshift bathtub, I'm sitting upright in a chair with my legs tied to the front legs and my hands tied together with even more rope attached to that, branching off to the hind legs. Another thing is that Blazette, wearing my ultimate chestplate, is grabbing handfuls of the cold water and anointing my abdomen with it. Constantly putting the water on me to regulate my body temperature and wearing the ultimate armor so it doesn't hurt her; clever. One thing is clear about Blazette; she's no idiot; she knows what she's doing.

"Oh, you're up." she says.

"You're one ballsy girl." I say.

"Growing up in a place as dangerous as here I learned to fear nothing. Neither object nor action can scare me." Blazette comments, continuing to rub me with handfuls of cold water.

"You're hard. I get it. I don't care. Do you plan on letting me go or not?"

"Not until I'm finished making you mine."

"One problem. I. Have. A. _Girlfriend!_ I already am somebody's and I'm definitely not yours."

Blazette looks at me sternly. "Well then I'll just have to change that."

"If you touch her I will _not_ hesitate to murder you." I narrow my eyes and furrow my eyebrows. All the while we'd been holding this conversation I'd been trying to escape my binds, furiously trying to loosen the rope wrapped around my wrists.

"And that is what makes you such a suitable husband. You do not fear doing what has to be done. You are a _warrior_."

"No, I'm not. I'm just a not-so-ordinary black guy who got stuck in a world he doesn't belong in and honestly wants nothing more than to go home." Though this is what I said, returning to Earth would mean leaving the mob girls behind, some of which I've grown attached to in my time here.

"I will permit you to leave after I finish my business with you."

"Oh, wow. What have I done to deserve the honor of freedom?" I continue to try to wriggle my wrists out of the rope, only to quit after feeling it not even loosen.

"Nothing. Yet."

"Shi-" Before I can finish my sentence, Blazette puts a glass bottle to my lips and pours the liquid in my mouth and it goes down my throat. I immediately feel the effects as my body immediately cools down and I stop sweating.

Blazette wastes no time in abandoning the ultimate chestplate and tossing off my ultimate helmet. I retain the ability to breathe after losing the helmet. Fire resistance. Smart. Just barely in my clear line of sight is a small timer, displaying "8:00" and counting down from there. Eight minutes. This is gonna be the most pleasurably excruciating eight minutes in my life.

"Now," Blazette sits on my open lap, straddling me, "the fun can begin."

**_Lemons are a thing._**

Blazette catches me in an intense lip lock, kissing me vigorously-not passionately-while grinding her straddled hips against my crotch. Meanwhile I'm powerless to resist in my binds. Blazette, after finished kissing me, crawls off of my lap, maintaining eye contact with a seductive look in her eye the whole time. I tense up as she pull down my zipper. She reaches into my open fly and pulls out my semi-erect penis.

"Getting excited, are you?" Blazette teases me. I'm tempted to say 'Fuck you.' but that'd probably motivate her to move along faster and I'm trying to have this not happen at all. It's more likely than not too late for that, though. Blazette takes a long lick starting from the base and traveling up the shaft before lightly kissing the head. I conceal my moan, trying hard to distract myself from the pleasure. My bare chest heaves as my heart rate increases. Blazette repeats that once before enveloping the head in her mouth. She begins to slowly bob her head up and down, swirling her tongue my shaft in the process.

Not able to conceal it anymore, I let out a moan. Blazette stops for a second and I can feel her smirk. She then resumes, slower, while kneading my balls.

"God, if you're gonna do it then do it. Stop fucking teasing!" I say. It's already started and I don't see any way to stop it. What I want more than anything right now is for her to just get it over with. Blazers starts to bob her head faster, still making work with her tongue, quickening the pace not too quickly, but not too slowly, all the while maintaining a steady rhythm. She's good. Being honest, she's better than Skye. But I can't let pure pleasure or lust cloud my mind. I've already cheated on Skye and don't intend on doing it again. Does being raped count as cheating?

"Fuck!" I half-moan, half-yell, throwing my head back. I look back down at Blazette to see her with two fingers inside of her vagina. As Blazette continues bobbing up and down, I feel pressure building up in my dick. The first climax; good. That's one step closer to finishing this session. "Blazette, I'm close, _really_ close." I say. Blazette's response is speeding up, going faster with every bob. "Oh fuck, I'm cumming!" I exclaim as I shoot loads of sperm down Blazette's throat. She, unable to swallow it all, takes her mouth off of manhood, cum spilling out in the process. Even after she takes her mouth off cum still leaks from the head of my member.

"That was quite the load. I think one more like that inside of me should be enough to have me bear a child." Blazette says.

"Please no. I've had enough as it is. Can't you just let me go?" I plead for freedom.

"You claim to have reached your limit, yet you remain as hard as a Nether brick," she teases, "besides, I'm not done with you." The blaze girl stands up, her red panties pulled to the side and holding her wet pussy lips open. She positions herself so that her pussy is right over my dick, before slowly settling down on it as far as she can before being stopped, but not by me, by a wall inside of her.

"You...you're...still a virgin." I half-ask, half-state. Blazette blushes and nods, avoiding my gaze. So this is the dere in this tsundere.

"Your name..." Blazette says, suddenly sheepish.

"What?"

"Your name...I...never got it..."

"Oh. Jordan. My name is Jordan."

"Jordan...will you...will you please take me?"

I sit there, astonished, and for more reasons than one. I didn't expect her to ask permission. Hell, I didn't expect her to even be a virgin! "So I have a choice now?" I ask, almost teasingly. Blazette looks at me angrily, but given her dere state she only comes off as cute trying to be angry while being so embarrassed. "Are you sure you want me to be your first? You can do a lot better than me."

"Who else would suffice?"

"I don't know but just give it time. Someone right for you will come eventually."

"But...from what I've seen you _are_ that person!" Blazette looks down in embarrassment.

Fucking fuck. Fuck! Fuck everything! My morals; they're gonna be the death of me. "Blazette," I start, getting her attention, "if this is what you really want..." Fuck. "if you're sure you want to go through with this..." FUCK! "I'll do it." Blazette looks at me in surprise, then with glee.

"Thank you." she smiles.

"So how will you do it? You gonna take it slow or just-" before I can finish my question, Blazette puts her hands on my bare shoulders and slams down on me with courage I'd never seen in anyone, digging her nails deep enough into my skin to draw blood. After that she stays in this position, silent and looking down. "Blazette?" I ask. No response. "Blazette...?" I echo. Same silence. I see a tear as it rolls down to her chin. Then another. And another after that.

"I'm...okay...I'm okay." Blazette manages to choke out. She waits for another minute, silently crying all the while, before even twitching again. Slowly she begins to slide up, then down just as slow. A few seconds pass then she repeats. Another short pause before repeating.

After repeating this process a few times, Blazette starts to bob up and down on my dick without having to pause. She bounces up and down over and over, upping her speed with every bounce. She pulls her nails out of my shoulders and starts to bounce even faster. I guess the pleasure started taking over the pain. She continues to ride me faster until finding a good pace and staying at that. Partway through she seemingly loses the ability to control her facial expressions, her face vividly showing the pleasure she's feeling at that moment**_(Ahegao)_**. Before long she exclaims, "Jordan, I'm cumming!"

"Me too!" I say as I feel pressure building up in my dick. "You need to get off befo-" Before I can finish my sentence, I feel myself climax with Blazette still sitting on my dick. I shoot shot after shot of cum into her; at the same time the cums on me, her juices flowing down my member.

**_Lemon over._**

Blazette falls forward, resting on my bare, heaving chest. "You're heart...is beating so fast. Was I that good?" Blazette teases while catching her breath, returning back to her normal self.

"Shut the hell up."

* * *

_**Well this seems like a pretty good spot to end the chapter. Sorry it took so long to get out such a short chapter and a simple scene but the sex scenes seem to take me longer than normal ones. Spring break is finally hear so though I will have a lot of down time I'll more likely than not be devoting a good amount of it to Borderlands 2. Just a heads-up. Anyway I'll get to work on the next chapter ASAP but it'll likely take a while because...priorities... Well I hope you enjoyed(those of you who actually read the sex scenes especially) and continue to do so. I'll see you guys next time.**_


	16. Special Acquisitions

**Chapter 16: Special Acquisitions**

Blazette goes to kiss me but I tilt my head back. "Can you get off me now?" I ask. Blazette reluctantly obeys and slides off of my penis slowly, purposely moving in a way that I feel pleasure. Her movements spike the sensitivity, giving pleasure that almost hurts. "Stop teasing and just get off!" I half-yell at her, mad at myself for letting her do what she did. Once she's off she repositions her red panties back to normal and unties my hands. I pull up my boxers and jeans before sitting back in the chair, leaning my head back and putting my hands over my face. "Fuck..." I groan.

"What's wrong?" Blazette asks, coming up behind me and wrapping her arms around me.

I peel her arms off of me and groan, "I'm going to hell."

"What do you mean? Why would you say that?"

"This is the second time I've cheated on my girlfriend since I came into Minecraftia," I sigh, "and I...I just want to stop. I just want to quit before this spirals out of control, but clearly I fucking can't and I just don't understand why."

"Maybe you don't want to."

"Of course I want to. I hate myself every time it happens but for some reason I continue to do it."

"There's something about it that you're clearly enjoying. Maybe it's the new person you're with and how it feels with them as opposed to..."

"Skye."

"Skye."

"Are you questioning how much I love and enjoy my girlfriend? Because if you are, fucking stop." I'm not normally easy to influence on a mental level, unless I'm in unknown territory like I am now. I've never cheated or went through anything like this before, so hearing anything like what Blazette is trying to say could fuck me up bad mentally.

"I'm just trying to say-"

"Stop! God, can we just drop it?! I don't want to think about this...Can we just change the subject?"

Blazette comes back around the chair and stands in front of me, observing the distress on my face. She places her hands on my face gently, worried. "Are you okay?" she asks, clearly not understanding my mental conundrum.

I pull her hands away. "No," I sigh, "but I'd just rather not get into it." I put my hands on top of hers. "Blazette," I look at my mental timer, "I can't stay hear much longer; I have to leave." 3:24.

"Why not?"

"The potion's wearing off; I'm running out of time."

"You can wear your armor. You'd never have to worry about going back to the Overworld. You could stay here with me."

"Even so, I can't stay. I wouldn't be able to take it mentally. I can't stand to hurt Skye and I know that me not returning with Raphael and Jason has to have her worried. If I didn't return at all it'd destroy her. Then she'd no doubt come here looking for me and if she found me here alone with you it'd destroy her even more and I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let that happen. Blazette, I'm leaving." I stand up and walk over to my stuff.

"...You really love her, don't you?"

"I do." I put back on the tank top I'd worn here.

Blazette stays silent for a few seconds before speaking up again. "Well...if that is how it is...then I will permit you to leave." she's says in her normal, strong, and independent voice.

"Why, thank you, Queen Blazette." I turn around and bow.

"On one condition."

"And that is...?"

"You take me with you."

Son of a bitch. I look at my timer. 2:17. There's no time for this. "I'm not bringing you with me. " I state sternly. Blazette looks at me, trying to conceal her sorrow. "But if you 'follow' me there I guess I have no control over that."

"I have always wanted to go to the Overwor-" Blazette starts but is cut off my an explosion that shakes the entire dugout.

"What the hell w-" I'm also cut off by another explosion, this one blasting a large hole in the wall behind me and knocking me down. I turn over, now on my ass, and look at what just happened right behind me. The odd and unsettling thing about the explosion is that the blocks of netherrack that weren't destroyed were left with a jade green sludge on them, corroding away slowly.

"What is that?!" Blazette's voice takes my eyes away from the netherrack and through the hole in the wall. Beyond the opening is a ghast, but one far from normal. This one is larger than a normal one, with green, glowing eyes and a matching mouth, opposing the normal red color. The ghast fires another fireball aimed in my direction. I hurriedly scoot back, still on my ass, and narrowly stay out of its blast radius. The explosion, however, claims the ultimate armor and pickaxe as well as my map, which were all sitting in a pile right next to where I had been. As the blocks are destroyed, the suit of armor falls into the ocean of lava below.

"Shit!" I exclaim.

"What?!" Blazette asks, laying down suppressive fire behind me.

"The armor fell!" I scuttle to my feet and grab my ultimate bow and swords, quickly snatching up the dual back-scabbard and using one of the swords to deflect another fireball. "I thought you said we were underground! Why the fuck is there lava?!"

"The dugout is at the top of a cliff!" Blazette flies ahead of me, through the hole, still throwing her incendiary fireballs to combat the caustic ghast's corrosive/explosive ones.

"Fucking why?!"

"I don't know!"

"Son of a bitch!" I bounce another fireball off of the blade of my sword.

"What will you do now?"

"I think I've got another Notch apple in my bag. If not I need to make it to the portal, and _fast_!" I grab my bag and put the single strap across my shoulder, followed by the back scabbard, followed by my ultimate bow. "Blazette, I need you to distract it. But listen carefully to my next directions. _Don't. Get. Hit." _

"I will do my best!" Blazette flies out further and starts to lay down suppressive fire to the best of her abilities, drawing the caustic ghast away from me.

"This wasn't supposed to go like this." I mumble to myself as I begin to look for any possible escape route. Across the sea of lava, I see the Nether portal. "We're so close." I think out loud. I look around the hole in the wall for something-anything to aid in my escape. About seven blocks down I see a one-block-wide ledge. Risky. If I don't get down the right way I could seriously hurt myself, but if I roll I more likely than not will fuck up and fall into the lava. Fuck it, my body's in good shape; I should be able to take it.

I sheathe the sword I was using and sit on the edge of the hole, next shifting over onto my stomach with my legs still over the edge. I drop down, my hands gripping the edge of the dry netherrack block as much as possible. "Okay, now I just..." I think out loud as I release my grip on the block, falling the 15 or so feet to the next solid ground. My feet hit the ground, the shock from impact making me fumble to both my hands and a knee. I scramble back my feet, using the ground to launch myself forward and get a boost.

If I run along the ledge long enough, I'll end up going around the lava rather than crossing it. If I find safe land to run on instead of a meter-wide ledge, then that's a bonus. Next time I come here I need to bring a hoverboard with me. I look at my time. 1:21. The portal is close enough; that sounds doable. With the Velocity raptor's added speed factored into the distance I should make it in time. The only problem would be stopping in time to avoid running into or off of a dead end. I continue to advance forward, and Blazette continues to cover me. I run, climb, and occasionally parkour my way closer and closer to the portal.

I'm halfway when my timer hits one minute left. I can close this remaining distance in less than a minute. Something that makes me stop dead in my tracks is a super concerned voice shouting, "Jordan!" I wouldn't have stopped if it had been Blazette, since her voice could be expected. But the voice...belonged to Skye. I look in the direction of the portal rather than directly in front of me. At the portal I see Skye, clad in ultimate armor, and Jason and Raphael, both wearing lava eel armor. I guess she's used her stash from the Goodness Tree to make that suit but didn't want to share. Lava eel armor also grants fire resistance, smart.

"Skye!" I shout back, "Stay there; I'll make it fine."

"You need help! Stop trying to be the stubborn hero and just accept it!" She yells back at me, a mix of concern and a little bit of anger in her voice.

I look at the path ahead of me. Though I definitely would make it in time, even with the obstacle of the terrain, what she said makes me think.

"Jordan, look out!" I hear Blazette scream.

I turn in the direction of her and the caustic ghast to see a corrosive fireball shooting straight towards me. The yelling got its attention! Shit! The fireball is far enough for me to dodge the initial explosion, but already too close for me to evade the acid that corrodes the surrounding blocks. On top of that I wouldn't have enough time to draw one of my swords to deflect it. I guess this is the end for me. If this is what's gonna stop me I'd have stood no chance against Herobrine. Even if this will kill me, I won't make it look like I gave up. I lunge to the side, at least out of the explosion's blast radius, though still in the corrosion's. As the fireball speeds faster I prepare to draw my last breath. Just as it's about to hit me, something speeds into its path. The thing that took the hit for me was Blazette.

My eyes go wide and I yell, "Blazette!" damn near as loud as I can. The fireball hits her somewhere on her front side and she screams at the top of her lungs in pain as it explodes on impact. For a split second I can see the green cloud of corrosion surrounding her body, but before I know it she's out of it, the blast having shot her in my direction. Her back collides into my abdominal area at an insanely high speed, causing serious pain and most likely some internal damage, likely breaking a few of my ribs. The two of us hit the wall behind me hard, her landing, unconscious and on her side, in my lap. "Blazette!" I say again as I turn her over, ignoring the extreme pain coursing through my upper body. I'm more worried about her than myself right now. As I turn her over onto her back, my eyes go wide in horror. I hold her up and look at her devastated body. The fireball looks like it hit her directly in the chest, as that's the most affected area. Her entire torso is covered in that same green sludge that the blocks had in the dugout. I look up at the ghast to see it being kept busy by my friends that came to save me. "Blazette! Blazette, wake up! Wake up! Don't die on me!" I say to her frantically as the corrosive acid slowly eats away at her. Not the faintest response. "Blazette! Blazette!" I yell more in desperation, a lump forming in my throat and tears starting to well up in my eyes. I look over at my friends to see them keeping the ghast busy. The bigges problem in the matter is that there attack do no visible damage; the caustic ghast doesn't even flinch as arrows are repeatedly embedded in its flesh. I revert my attention the Blazette. "Wake up!" I yell one more time.

To my surprise Blazette stirs slightly. Her eyes open up groggily and she weakly groans, "Jordan..."

"Blazette!" I exclaim thankfully and surprised.

"Jordan..." she starts weakly, barely able to speak, "everything...hurts...so much..." Blazette weakly takes hold of my hand

"Don't talk." I dig around in my bag for a Notch apple. "Quick, eat this."

Blazette reaches for it but can barely hold up her arm. "Jordan...I can't..." Her breathing becomes more labored.

"Yes you can. I'm not gonna let you die here." I say as I try to feed her the apple. "You need to eat it if you want to live" I tell her.

Blazette reaches up at me once more with newfound strength and for a second I gain hope. This hope disappears, however, when instead of reaching for the apple, she weakly places her hand on my cheek and says, "I love y..." but can't finish it, as her eyes close and her hand falls to the ground. I stare, paralyzed, at Blazette's body, still clutching the Notch apple that would've saved her in my hand. I'd lost all will to move a second ago.

"JORDAN!" I hear Skye's terrified scream. I look up to see a corrosive fireball mid-flight, already halfway between me and the caustic ghast. I sit and watch it come to me, void of the motivation to do anything. In a split second, my mind snaps from sad to mad.

I look at the fireball as it approaches, now mad at the ghast that killed Blazette. I continue to watch the ball, it now too close for me to dodge it. "No." I mutter. And as if on cue, the fireball stops in mid-air. Everything around me stops too, frozen in place in whatever manner it had been in in the previous moment. I stand up and turn around before punching the netherrack wall that Blazette and I had hit. When I punch the netherrack it cracks. From there the crack quickly spreads to everything within sight range, before doing something between crumbling apart and disintegrating completely. Once everything is gone I stand on Notch and Jeb's plane of existence.

"How did you-?" Jeb starts behind me.

"Bring her back." I say sternly.

"That's not something we can do." Notch states.

"Why not?"

"Doing so would require a soul."

"So get hers before it passes into another plane or whatever the fuck."

"That's not exactly possible, Jordan."

"And why the fuck is that?"

"She's from this world. She's a mob-"

"Half mob"

"Whatever. Point is, though her body may be human, she's still a mob on the inside."

"And?"

"They may be half human, but they're also half mob. And mobs don't have souls." Those words hit me hard, like someone shot a cannon ball aimed right at my heart. "Even if she did have a soul to retrieve," Notch brings his hands together before spreading them apart, like he's opening a pair of double doors simultaneously. As his hands spread a window opens up showing me Blazette's body, "her body's already began sublimating. Once that starts, even we can't stop it. We may be gods of this realm, but everyone has their limits, including the two of us."

"Then give me something-anything-to kill that ghast. Blazette lost her life to save mine, and I'm not about to let her have died in vain."

With that being said, Notch approaches me and shoves his hands into my chest, reaching for the heart, them going through me as if one of us were a ghost. He pulls out a bright ball of light about the size of a baseball. He begins squeezing the ball in his hand, completely blocking out the bright light from my view. When he opens up his hands there's no longer a ball of light, but instead a small, silver Chinese dragon. Notch presents me with the dragon, which, to my amazement, turns its head and looks at me with different-colored eyes. The left eye is a small peridot gemstone and the right is sardonyx, the modern and traditional birthstones for August, my birth month.

"What the shit..." I say in awe. The dragon starts to hover before flying from Notch's hand to me. I hold out my open hands and accept the little guy. It takes a few steps around my palm before beginning to shake and glow red. "What's happening?!" I don't ever get an answer to my question. The dragon's long silver body bunches up into coils, resembling a thick slinky, and stiffens, now unmoving. As I hold the still-glowing, coiled dragon in my hand, a long blade shoots straight up out of one end. The dragon is undoubtedly turning into a sword. A crossguard materializes horizontally in its designated area where the hilt stops and the blade becomes visible. A pommel materializes at the end of the grip opposite of the blade. When the sword stops glowing, I can finally see the features of it. The entire sword itself being a jian, a Chinese straight sword used for the past thousands of years, with a slightly elongated and widened blade. The blade alone is a beautiful sight; the edges are blood red, the perfect shade, and the flat is black with a Chinese dragon engraved all the way down the three-and-a-half-foot-long blade. The grip is the silver body of the coiled dragon and the pommel is the head of a roaring lion. The entire blade seems to emit an ethereal red aura. As I marvel at the sword, it glows red again and returns to the form of the dragon, this time immediately rather than having a gradual transformation. In this transformation, however, the dragon, instead of going into its normal long state, is inanimate and wrapped around my right wrist, multiple times due to its long body, as a bracelet.

"This sword is created from and bound to your soul; it will perform according to your will. With unwavering willpower, it can slice cleanly through anything. Every strike with this sword must be certain; if you're mind is not focused on the attack, it will be completely ineffective." Notch explains.

"This could definitely kill the ghast and avenge Blazette if it weren't for one thing: this is a melee weapon and the ghast is out of reach."

Jeb puts his hands together, a not-so-bright light shining visibly through the spaces between his fingers. He opens his hands to reveal a swirling ball of...something. Whatever it is swirling around is some type of ethereal energy. He aims his hands at me and shoots me with the ball. The instant the ball makes contact with me it breaks up and spreads the energy all across my body. I look down at my hands to see my skin emitting a soft white glow. "What did you do to me?" I ask.

"Have a look." Jeb responds, making a motion in the air as if he was pulling a shade down over a window. A mirror appears as his hand moves downward. In the mirror is me, but with an addition. Coming out of my back are two angelic wings made of the same glowing energy that Jeb hit me with. I turn to the side and look from a profile to see that the wings themselves are actually not attached to me, but rather hovering close and not straying away. The wings look as if they were caught in one large magnetic field but repelled by another, smaller, one in the center of the large one, so they stay suspended in one place between the two.

"You'll need three things to defeat the ghast, two of which we supplies you with and one you hold in the palm of your hand." Notch informs me.

"The wings are made of our power, so those will only be temporary. The sword, on the other hand, was made from your soul, so that is yours to keep." Jeb states.

I look at the dragon wrapped around my wrist, now serious about killing the ghast. "This'll do." I clench my fist.

"We'll return your conscious mind to moments before you managed to break through to our dimension." Notch says.

"This'll return to you everything you were feeling at the moment and get your mind immersed into your plane again after this little break you took in ours." Jeb finishes. I nod understandingly, a serious look on my face.

In the blink of an eye I'm slumped against the wall again, staring down at Blazette's body. I feel everything I'd felt in that moment once more; the despair, the shock, the lack of motivation, it all comes flooding back to me. "JORDAN!" I hear the same terrified scream from Skye as I did earlier and my eyes avert to the caustic ghast's corrosive fireball again. I narrow my eyes and furrow my brow, focusing on the fireball. I quickly stand up and drop all my gear onto the ground as it flies toward me. I stare it down as it approaches and, at the last moment, take a bite out of the Notch apple in my left hand. I'd bitten that apple faster than I'd ever done anything else before. As soon as my teeth sink into the apple, the fireball hits me and I hear Skye, in agony, scream, "NOOOO!" The explosion does nothing more to me than knock me back a bit and I heal faster than the corrosive acid can do sufficient damage. Amidst the cloud of corrosive vapor, I invoke both the wings and sword gifted to me by Notch and Jeb. The dragon flashes before coming to life, quickly flying into my hand, and going through the full transformation from dragon to sword. The ethereal wings materialize and spread behind me. The vapor dissipates, revealing the sight of me to my friends.

I look to where Blazette's body had been, only to see her gauntlets lying on the ground; I kneel down and pick them up, staring at them for a few seconds before putting before pressing them against my forehead, closing my eyes and quietly saying, "You gave your life to prolong mine. I will avenge you; I'll make sure your death meant something." I put the golden gauntlets into my bag. I revert my gaze to the ghast to see another fireball quickly closing the distance between it and I. In a split second, I shoot upward into the air, swiftly dodging the fireball. As it hits the wall and explodes underneath me, I put my feet on the part of the wall behind me and push off. I flatten my wings against my body, like a bird in a dive, shooting toward the ghast at an incredible speed. I ready my sword as I quickly get closer. As I approach the caustic ghast, I swing my sword powerfully, a blade of energy emerging from it and quickly surging toward the ghast. The energy blade slices through the side of its body like a hot knife through butter. I zoom past the ghast, hitting it with a powerful gust of wind in the process; I spin around and speed back just as fast, repeating the process I just executed. I cut the ghast again and go to repeat the process once more; one I get within reach, it grabs me with two of the tentacles protruding from its underbelly. I slice through the tentacles wrapped around my upper body and the ghast lets out a wail, immediately pulling what's left of those tentacles back to its body as the severed portions fall to the lava below. The same corrosive acid that envelops the fireballs comes out of the tentacles. Now free, I fly up to its face and punch the ghast between its eyes as hard as my strength allows me. The veins in my forearm glow with the same energy as my wings and the ghast goes flying back into a wall of netherrack, putting a rather large dent in it. Yes, a dent. The strength wasn't negotiated but is definitely a nice touch and not overlooked. The ghast charges through the air toward me and I strike the air with my sword twice in the shape of an X, the energy blades making contact with the area I had punched. The hit not only stops in the ghast, but knocks it back as it shrieks in pain. While the ghast is busy recovering, I fly in front of it, trying to provoke it into chasing me. It takes the bait and I fly in the direction of the portal, just out of the ghast's reach. I pull a sharp turn, not left or right but up, too fast for the ghast to change course. As it tries to slow down and follow me I fly back downward, landing on its head. I raise my new sword before thrusting it downward straight into and through the head of the caustic ghast. I ride the dead ghast as we quickly descend before crashing into the netherrack ground, skidding across it. I reach for the sword and it reverts back into its dragon form, flying to me and wrapping itself around my wrist before flashing and becoming inanimate. I jump off of the ghast's head as it begins to sublimate; the wings provide a slow, graceful landing.

As my feet softly touch the ground, Skye runs into my arms, embracing me as if if she let go, I'd disappear forever. I return the hug, wrapping my arms around her passionately. She starts to cry. "I...thought you'd died. I got so worried when you didn't come back with Jason and Raphael. Then when I come to look for you, you explode, only to come out with...wings." Skye stops and lets me go, wiping away her tears. "Wh...how...where did those come from? And the sword too?" she asks, confused.

"I have friends in high places." I say, bringing her back into an embrace. I feel the wings retract and disappear back to Notch and Jeb's divine plane. As this happens, my knees suddenly go weak and my body feels heavy.

Skye catches me as I fall onto her. "Jordan are you okay?" she asks in a worried voice.

"I think," I stagger back a bit, "I'm gonna..." That's all I get out before my vision goes black and I drop to the ground like a bunch of sandbags.


	17. Special Acquisitions(cont)

**Chapter 17: Special Acquisitions(cont.)**

I groggily open my eyes to Skye and the mob girls looking at me. I look around without saying a word and realize that I'm lying on the black couch inside the house. I try to sit up, only to fall right back down halfway.

"Don't push yourself." Skye says. I look at her with half-open eyes. I'd go right back to sleep if I was tired in the first place.

"That was quite the fight you put up back there." Raphael says from behind me. "Whatever that was fatigued you _fast_."

"Speaking of that," Jason chimes in, "what exactly _was_ that back there?"

"Can't say." I state.

I hear footsteps approaching me before Raphael's face comes into view. "And why would that be?" he squats down to be more or less eye level with me.

"It's my personal business. Nothing any of you need to be concerned with." I sit up, now with the energy to do so. The girls crowded around me step out of my way and I stand up, cracking my neck in the process. I check my watch. 8:58. God, how long was I out? "Where's the Nether Quartz we got?" I ask the two boys.

"Me and Raphael's are upstairs." Jason says.

"I went to get your stuff from where you had dropped it but I think it might've been destroyed because it wasn't there." Raphael adds.

That fireball definitely did hit my stuff, so thats very possible. Without another word, I head upstairs. Once up there I walk into the room for everybody that's not living in Skye's and mine. I hear Andr warp behind me.

"Once they brought you back, I looked through your memory; I saw what all went down. You okay?" she says.

"I...I don't really know. Blazette had nothing to do with why that ghast was there, yet I roped her in, right into something that she had no reason to be in. She died because of that...because of me." I confess to the Endergirl.

"You can't be so hard on yourself. There's no way you could've known what would happen there. For Blazette it was just wrong place, wrong time." Andr attempts to comfort me.

"Yeah, well I brought her there and then. She died to save me, and, personally, I don't think I deserved it."

"Don't say that."

"You looked through my memories; you know what happened, what I let her do and what I didn't do to stop it. Andr," I look at her, "I'm a shitty person. Blazette didn't need to die for me. If she hadn't taken that shot for me, she'd still be here."

"Jordan, there's nothing you could've done to change what happened. But what you did was avenge her, make sure she didn't die in vain. That shows just how good of a person you are. Neither of you deserved to die, but it was you or her. No doubt Blazette knew what would happen if she took that fireball instead of you, yet she did it anyway. She wanted you to live more than herself, and that had to have been for a reason."

I let out a heavy sigh. "I...I just don't want anyone hurt because of me. I won't be able to live with myself so long as I have blood on my hands."

"If you can't take having blood on your hands then wash it off. When something bad happens you don't let it stop you, you keep moving and make it through. You can't blame yourself for something you don't have control of and didn't know would happen." Andr looks me dead in the eyes for a few seconds before grabbing me by the arms and pulling herself in close to me, wrapping her her arms around me. A bit surprised, I return the hug, wrapping my arms around her as well.

"Thanks Andr," I sigh, "I'll keep that in mind." I let her go and pickup Raphael and Jason's backpacks and sling them over my shoulders. _'His hug...so warm...and his arms felt so safe.'_ I eavesdrop on Andr's thoughts. I walk back downstairs and enter the room I'd reserved for a bathroom. In there, on the floor, is everything I'd dropped before killing that ghast, all in the same condition as when I'd last had it.

After a few minutes I get the bathroom set up with everything we would ever need, give or take a few cabinets. I leave the room with Blazette still on my mind. I haven't stopped thinking about her since she died. "I'm going out for some fresh air." I state as I walk out the front door. Once outside, I sit on the first step of the patio and look at the sky, the setting sun giving it a warm orange tint. She really shouldn't have taken the shot for me; I told her what I've done in this world and how I hate myself for it. This world would really be better off without someone like me.

"Jordan..." Skye's voice comes from behind me.

I turn back to look at her. "Hey." I say before turning my head back to what's in front of me.

"How ya holdin' up? I haven't seen you smile since what happened in the Nether." she says. I don't answer. "Thought so." Skye takes a seat next to me and rests her head on my shoulder.

"It didn't have to happen." I look off into the distance. "She didn't have to give her life for me; it's not like I even deserved it." Skye still doesn't know about the cheating, and in determined to have it stay that way. From now on, I don't give into the temptation of the forbidden fruit of relationships. Starting now, as long as our relationship stands, I vow to be intimate with no one other than Skye. "She died for me and there was and is no way to reverse that. At least she didn't die in vain; at that moment avenging her was all I could do."

"Speaking of that, what exactly happened there? What was that with the wings and sword?" Skye picks her head up from my shoulder.

"Nothing." I continue to gaze into the distance.

"No, it wasn't nothing! Why do you always do this?! What are you hiding from me?!" I look at her without even slightly altering my expression. "Ever since we got to this world, you've been different. You randomly and mysteriously get all this stuff that shouldn't be here. You keep supplying is with stuff like lotion, deodorant, toothpaste, combs, brushes, makeup-"

"Speaking of makeup," I cut Skye off before standing up and grabbing a full makeup bag from the mailbox, "package for you." I hand her the bag full of assorted makeup that I don't know or care the purpose or usage of.

Skye looks at me in disbelief before continuing, "This is what I'm talking about! You're getting all this stuff seemingly out of nowhere!" I sit back down on the first step. "It's not like I'm not grateful for everything you give us; I just want to know," Skye puts her hands on my back where my wings had previously been, "Jordan...what are you?"

* * *

**_Yes this is a short chapter and yes there is a reason behind it. This chapter, as the title suggests, is a continuation of the previous one. I cut chapter 16 a little short so that it would get out quicker. This is the ending that I intended to have for it._**


	18. Alliance

**Chapter 18: Alliance**

"Jordan...what are you?"

I summon the sword given to me by the two gods of Minecraftia. I recall what Blazette had called me as I look at my reflection in the blade. "I," I furrow my brow, looking intently into my own eyes, "am a warrior."

* * *

I slowly open my eyes to the familiar sight of Neige peacefully sleeping in her bed next to Skye's and my shared bed. Another familiarity is Luna, at some point, having crawled onto the bed, under the blanket, and embraced me in some way. These are two things that make up my typical morning, another is sneaking out while everyone else is asleep to go work n the new house I've been secretly building for us every day. Raphael wouldn't get off my ass about how he shares a room with four other people while I'm comfortable with the people I actually want in my room. With it pretty much complete, it should be unveiled later today. All I have left to do is a final walk-through fix up anything that may not be to my liking; after that I'm done with it. I slowly and carefully release myself from Luna's arms, which were wrapped around my abdomen with her pressing the side of her face against my back. Once free, I stand up and quietly stretch. Today is July 30th, meaning my birthday is only one week away. In just seven days I'll be 18. My upcoming birthday is just about the only thing Skye's been talking about recently. She seems more excited about it than me. To me my birthday isn't really much more special than any other day; I wake up, do my normal day to day activities, go back to sleep, and repeat. I can't believe it's already almost been two months since I got here; boy, does time fly. I pick up the clothes I prepared last night and sneak downstairs, making sure to wake no one up. Since getting my jiàn from Notch and Jeb, which I named the Crimson Fang, I'd stopped using my ultimate swords, so I don't have to worry about grabbing those. I sneak out of the house and put on everything as quietly as possible. I grab one rung of the ladders I'd set placed leading up to Leon on the roof before I hear the grass crunch under someone behind me and spin around quickly. There stands Cupa, standing as quietly and shy as always. "Why are you up?!" I yell at her quietly.

"I...noticed you leaving...I wanted to see where you've been going lately." Cupa says in an embarrassed voice. "And a while ago you said you would take me with you somewhere, and you still haven't..." she looks at her feet.

I take a step down off of the ladder and approach her. I look her in the eyes and see what I detect is not only sheepishness, but a little fear. I don't know why I tend to scare the smaller girls in the house, maybe it's my height, maybe it's the way I stare into their souls through their eyes. I pat her on the head and smile at her. It doesn't last long though; the smile quickly fades back to my normal focused look and I climb the ladders up to the roof. I climb onto Leon's back and adjust myself to a comfortable position. I look down at Cupa and see her still in the same spot. "You coming or not?" I ask her.

* * *

"We gotta take a pit stop in the Mining Dimension." I say as Cupa and I soar through the sky on the back of my Leonopteryx. Cupa clings to me tightly as we fly.

"Why?" she asks.

"Low on wood." I reply simply.

Cupa looks down at all the trees below us and asks, "You sure about that?"

"Yup."

"Looks like there's an abundance of it down there. How could you even manage to run out?"

"You'll see." I take us up higher, above the cloud level. I want at least a moderately spectacular reveal for Cupa; I have been neglecting her after all.

"Jordan," Cupa says in fear, "this is _really_ high!" The creeper girl clings to me even tighter. I suddenly take us back down, once more below the clouds. "Jordan!" Cupa screams at our sudden change of course. The clouds make an audible _poof_ as we burst through them before spreading apart and dissipating above us. Cupa goes silent, however, once she lays eyes on the house that she'll soon be living in. "It's...beautiful!" she gasps at the sight of the mansion.

"It better be; I put countless hours into making it. It was hard work but it's worth it in the end I guess." I put a little pride into my words. Cupa remains silent as she marvels at the manor. "Let's get a closer look." I take us further down, landing Leon on the roof of the mansion. Once Cupa and I dismount the dragon from Avatar, I open a trap door leading to the attic and climb down with Cupa following my lead. We descend another set of ladders to the second floor, where the bedrooms are. I walk her down the hall, explaining the layout of the floor to her. "This floor has nine rooms in total; there's eight bedrooms: yours, Andr's, Ana's, Neige's, Raphael's, Jason's, and" I stop at a set of double doors leading into the master bedroom, "mine, Skye's, and Luna's. The last two are a bathroom and a spare. If Neige decides to sleep with me, Skye, and Luna then there'll be two spares."

"Whose room is that?" Cupa sheepishly points to the room right next door to the master bedroom.

"Aside from the bathroom and mine, none of the rooms have really been assigned to anyone or anything. Put simply, it's anybody's." I explain.

"I...I want it!"

I figured as much. "It's yours." Cupa looks at me happily.

"Each bedroom is empty so you can furnish it to your desire. Make it look however you want." Make your room yours. I guess that's one way to put it. "Tour's not over; let's keep moving." I lead Cupa down the flight of stairs to the first and main floor. "On the main floor is the living room, kitchen, recreational area, another bathroom, blah blah blah. Let's keep going." I lead Cupa down yet another flight of stairs to the basement. "The basement's primarily for storage but has the space to be a multipurpose room. Really anything can be done here I guess." I look around the large stone room the two of us are in. "Well that's about it. We should head on up; we still need to go the Mining Dimension."

"I still don't understand why you need to get the trees from there when there's more than enough in the Overworld."

"Okay, fine. I want a T-Rex morph. It's one of the few things that interest me that I haven't killed yet, so I'm going there to make that happen." Cupa looks at me oddly. "What?"

She shakes her head, "Nothing."

"Actually, before we leave, I've got something to take care of real quick."

"What is it?"

"Private business. Just gimme a minute." I sit on the ground and lean my back against the wall. I then close my eyes and focus on leaving the mortal plain of existence. I hear Cupa's voice but do my best to tune her out and not break my focus. In no time at all, the area around me seems to disappear. I open my eyes and look around to see the cosmos swirling around me. I float around for a second before heading as high as I can. As I fly higher and higher, approaching the heavens, it gets brighter and brighter. It gets to the point where I have to cover my face to protect my eyes from the harsh light. The light recedes and I lower my hands and open my eyes. When I do I'm in the divine plain once more with Notch and Jeb.

"Welcome back." Jeb greets me.

"We'd assume you have something to request." Notch says seriously.

"Yeah, I have a request. It's about Fang, the sword you guys gave me." Jeb cocks an eyebrow while Notch stays as stone-faced as usual. I evoke Fang's sword form. "In his sword form he's pretty long. I get it that he's supposed to be the same size as normal Minecraftian swords but this is unnecessary." Normal swords in this world are supposed to be two-handed weapons but I find it better to dual-wield them. I'd been using Fang as a two-hand sword and, though I like the power I can put into the slices, it's just not me. "I'd like you to cut him down to the size of a normal jiàn; I could work just fine with him then." I say to the gods.

"And what of your empty hand?" Notch gestures to my empty left hand.

"I'll find something." I say with a slight shrug.

"And what would 'something' be?"

"I don't know at the moment, but I could definitely work something out. In the time being, you can cut the blade's length down to three or so feet. And shave off about half of an inch of its width."

"So be it." With that said, Fang starts to glow red before starting to shrink. Not only the blade, but the handle handle shrinks too. It had previously been long enough to support two hands; it now shrinks down to one hand worth of space. Great sword to straight sword in a matter of seconds. Fang glows for a few seconds more before the light actually dims down to its normal dimly-glowing aura. One thing I notice is that the lion's head pommel has been replaced with a dragon's head.

"Have this too." Jeb gets my attention. He extends his arm and a new bracelet coils its way around my left wrist. This one is made of golden beads, every other one having the zodiac symbol for the Leo, and hanging from and close to the band is the lion's head that used to be Fang's pommel as the centerpiece, now made of gold. The lion has the same eyes as Fang, with the places of each gemstone switched. The bracelet starts to glow just as Fang does before emitting a golden shield made of energy. The shield is semitransparent, about as wide as me from shoulder to shoulder, and floats in place next to my forearm, just as my wings had done; the only difference is that the shield is palpable. In the center of the circular shield is a holographic lion head. "Now cross your arms like this." Jeb makes makes an X with his forearms. I cross my arms just as he did and the shield quickly expands, tripling in diameter. When the shield starts expanding, however, Fang immediately reverts to his bracelet form. "From now on when you cross your arms like so," he crosses his arms once more, "you an expand that shield, but you surrender the power from your sword to it." That explains why Fang didn't stay a sword. "And you can revert the sword-

"Fang."

"...Fang...to its-

"His."

"_His_ original size and surrender the power from the shield to the i-him." I withdraw the shield and invoke Fang again, holding the handle with two hands. Within seconds, the handle and blade change back to the sizes that they were when I first got Fang.

"You guys, not that I'm not thankful for this, but it's really unnecessary." I say.

"Take them. Trust us; they'll come in handy." Jeb tells me.

Besides, we have to keep it equal." Notch says.

What are they talking about 'keep it equal'? I invoke the shield again, returning Fang to his new size. I look down at the sword before gripping the handle intently. "That's all I came here for," I withdraw Fang and the shield before returning my eyes to Notch and Jeb, "so I'll be taking my leave." I turn around to walk away, though I wouldn't really be going anywhere by just walking away. I begin to will myself to return to the mortal plain.

As I start to disappear, Notch calls out to me, "Tread carefully, kid."

"Will do." I say as I continue to walk away, disintegrating with every step.

My eyes snap open, now back in my plain of existence. The first thing I see is Cupa messing around with the golden beaded bracelet on my wrist. "Having fun there?" I ask. She jumps back a bit and I stand up. "C'mon, it's time to go."

* * *

**_(Third person POV)_**

"Progress report." Shawn asks, sitting in a chair behind the makeshift desk in his lair. He sits facing away from the person who'd been with him since soon after he entered Minecraftia. He'd recently taken them in as his assistant in his quest to rule the blocky world, having promised the two would rule together.

"Still in the Overworld. He plans on going to the Mining Dimension with Cupa and should be there within the next few minutes." his helper responds.

"And?" Shawn asks losing patience.

"I-I don't understand the question." says the assistant.

"What's he up to?!" Shawn swiftly turns around and throws a glass bottle at his assistant, narrowly missing.

"He claims to want a T-Rex morph! He didn't give any real reason except that he wants it!" The assistant looks at Shawn through scared eyes.

"Interesting...this could be him gaining more firepower to defeat Herobrine."

"I can't keep track of him as long as we're in different dimensions. I could follow him in and track him then, though."

"No." Shawn stands up, looking out of the window behind the desk. "Until we know for sure what he's actually doing there, we don't act. Sit back and let the events unfold. I'll be able to stop him either way."

"Got it."

"Don't return to your little group yet; wait until Jordan is back."

"Understood."


	19. Alien vs Predator

_**Two chapters within seven days of each other. Yes, it's a miracle. I don't understand why but, in terms of A New World, I've been oddly productive this week. Anyway, enjoy. **_

* * *

**Alien vs. Predator**

_**(Cupa's POV)**_

"It's alright. I've got you. Everything'll be just fine." I say to the unconscious Jordan, whose limp body I'm trying to hold up to the best of my ability. I continue to limp away from the hill that the Alien just knocked us down, half-dragging Jordan's unconscious body. Every step hurts but I have to keep going for his sake. I hold his arm around my shoulder with my left hand and support his midsection with my right. The gash in his leg continues to bleed profusely, not showing any signs of stopping any time soon. I can only take a few more steps before both of us fall to the ground. My sprained ankle can no longer support our combined weight and the two of us crumple to those ground, his body slipping off of me before I fall right after. The two of us landed in different spots. "No no no. This isn't right. It...it wasn't supposed to go this way!" I hear the Alien's quick footsteps approaching closer and closer behind us. "Jordan..." I pull myself over to his body. "I'm sorry." Tears start to well up in my eyes. "I'm sorry I did this to you. I'm sorry I got you into this." The tears now begin to stream freely down my face. Why did this happen? Why? "...Why?"

* * *

**_(20 minutes earlier, Jordan's POV)_**

"We should hurry and get back; it's getting dark." I look up at the setting sun. I pull Fang out of the dead T-Rex underneath me and shake the blood off of him before retracting him. I jump down from the back of the sublimating body of the T-Rex I'd just killed. "Finding an ant's gonna be hard in the dark." I say. As if finding and killing the T-Rex wasn't annoying enough, it was also unnecessarily time consuming.

"Couldn't we stay here for the night?" my half-creeper companion asks.

"I don't know if that'd be a very good idea." I check my watch. 8:57. "Sleeping would be troublesome. We can use beds anywhere aside from the Overworld. We should at least look around while there's still some light out. If we can't find a red ant we'll camp out here and get back in the morning. 'Kay?" I turn around to look at Cupa.

"Sounds like a plan." she confirms.

Whether it be in the Overworld or some alternate dimension, _Minecraft_ night is still _Minecraft_ night. I have a bad feeling about staying here.

* * *

_**(Third person POV)**_

Skye leans over the fence on the second floor of the house, a worried look plastered on her face. Raphael walks up, a bottle of water in his hand. "Yo." he says simply.

Skye turns around to him and gives him a sad, "Hey." before looking out into the distance again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Skye," he grabs her shoulder and turns her around again, "w_hat's. Wrong_?" Raphael pauses in between and puts emphasis on his words.

"It's Jordan." Skye looks out into the distance once more, even more worried than before. "He's been gone all day and I'm pretty sure Cupa's with him. He normally comes back some time in the afternoon but the sun's already down. Andr, Ana, Luna, Raphael, and Jason are all gone too! Hopefully they'll make it back. I want to look for Jordan, but I don't even know where I would start! Nobody here has any methods of tracking him!" Skye starts to tear up, worried about her boyfriend's absence.

"I'm sure he's fine." Raphael puts a hand on Skye's shoulder. "We've all seen him take some heavy shit before. At this point you know he knows how to handle himself." Raphael looks down at Skye, whose tears are now streaming freely down her face. "All you can do now is have faith in him."

Skye looks out into the distance for the final time. "Jordan, wherever you are, please be okay."

* * *

_**(Cupa's POV)**_

We'd walked around for a while, but to no avail. The sun's set completely and the only source of light available is the moon overhead. We didn't find any red ants, meaning we're staying here overnight. I'm honestly happy we didn't find anything. Now I get more time alone with Jordan! Ever since Skye showed up he'd noticeably lost interest in me. I want to be closer to him. I want to be as good as her.

"It's already 9:12." Jordan looks up from his watch to me. "We'd better start setting up some shelter." He drops his bag on the ground, opening it and pulling out an axe. He pulls it out small but once in his hands, it grows to a normal, and actually usable, size. He starts placing torches down, lighting up the area. "We don't need anything too big, just a hut to survive the night in."

"If we're gonna be sleeping in it, shouldn't we make it comfortable." I ask. I want to go back to Jordan's early days in Minecraftia. When it was just the two of us living together. It didn't last long but I really enjoyed it. His smile and his warm, caring attitude toward me. The way he held me at night when we went to sleep together. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to simulate the sensations I'd gotten from being held in his arms. His big...strong arms. My arms squeeze tighter around my body.

"What are you doing?" Jordan's voice snaps me back to reality. I turn in his direction to see his face right in front of mine. My heart skips a beat and I freeze.

"W-what?" I ask. I'd heard him just fine. I just couldn't think of anything to say and that's what came out of my mouth. "Nothing." I quickly drop my arms down to my sides.

Jordan furrows his eyebrows before saying, "You're blushing." Now that he mentioned it, my cheeks do feel a bit warm. He looks me dead in the eyes, clearly not intending for his eyes to stray from mine. His dark brown eyes only makes me blush harder. Not getting attention has made me only want to be with him even more.

"I-I..." I can't manage to spit out any words. No matter how hard I try, I end up choking on the words.

"Anyway," Jordan puts his arm around my shoulder, bringing me in close. My heart beats even faster than when I imagined his embrace. "I've got enough wood for a simple hut. We should set up shop and retire for the night." He drops his arm back to his side and starts walking back to the torch-illuminated area.

I start to follow him but something stops me. Nothing physical but...a presence. It feels like something's nearby. I look around and see a cave entrance four or so blocks up a nearby stone wall. The dark night added onto the light-lacking cave make just about no visibility in the cave, even just the entrance is pitch black. Something compels me to move toward the cave. "Something's in there. I know it." I think out loud as I start to climb the blocks up to the light-scarce hole. Once at the entrance, I look into it. I can't see anything, but in the distance I hear a noise. Or, better said, the echo of a noise. An odd screech bounces off of the cave walls until it reaches the entrance where I stand. "What was that?" I ask myself quietly. Another screech echoes its way to me, this time a little louder. "What's out there?" The echo bounces to me once more, this time even louder. I hear a few fast footsteps before complete silence. I start to peer into the darkness again, trying to make out any silhouette I can. Right as I look in, a horrifying face accompanied by the screech I'd heard emerges faster than I could blink! I back up away from the monster, only to run out of blocks to step on. I lose my footing and slip off the edge. I hit the ground hard, landing right on my back. The hard impact knocks the wind out of me and I'm unable to move, barely able to breathe. Whatever the thing is jumps down, landing right above me, it's feet on either side of me. I'm unable to cry out for help. All I can do is stare at it in fear. It screeches loudly at me one more time before raising its clawed hand into the air, ready to swipe down right through my body. A tear falls out of my eye, running down the side of my face. I cringe my teeth and shut my eyes tight, waiting for the impending blow.

"Cupa!" I hear Jordan shout. I immediately open my eyes, just in time to see the creature knocked off of me by Jordan's axe that'd been flying through the air. While the creature's recovering, Jordan wastes no time in quickly dashing to me and scooping me up in his arms, carrying me princess-style away from whatever that thing is. My heart beats out of my chest as I look up at Jordan. He gently sets me down against the wall of the hut before turning back to that thing and summoning his sword.

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

As I place down another wood plank on the roof of the hut I hear a loud screech behind me. I immediately stop building and turn around, just in time to see Cupa fall four blocks flat on her back. I look to where she had just been to see an OreSpawn Alien emerge from a cave that I hadn't noticed. "Shit!" I quietly yell as I jump off the hut roof, rolling when I hit the ground. The Alien jumps down, landing right on top of Cupa. Without missing a step, I scoop up the ultimate axe I'd left lying on the ground, throwing it with all the force I can put into it, sending it quickly hurtling through the air. "Cupa!" I yell as loud as I can. Immediately after calling her, the axe hits the Alien presumably hard. It staggers off of her and to the ground. I close the gap between me and Cupa and grab her, picking her up in my arms and running her away from the Alien. I dash back to the hut, which still has an unfinished roof, and put Cupa down gently. I turn back to the Alien, who now is back up on two feet without the axe embedded in its head, and reach my hand out, Fang materializing in my open palm. I prepare myself for the Alien's attack, getting into a ready stance holding Fang horizontally. The Alien charges at me, dashing at an incredible speed.

"Jordan!" Cupa screams in terror. I watch as it quickly closes the distance between us, tightening my grip on Fang.

Once the Alien is within 10 blocks of us I deliver a hard horizontal slash. The blade of energy slices clean through the Alien's leg. It emits an ear-splitting shriek, worse than anything I've ever heard, as it helplessly tumbles to the ground. I stand over it before plunging Fang deep into its head. "That's that." I say, withdrawing Fang. I kneel down to Cupa and begin inspecting her for injuries. "You okay?" I ask, my hand gently roaming her face. Cupa's face reddens and she opens her mouth to say something but can't get out any words. If I was the idiotic protagonist and harem owner in an anime I'd probably think it's because she got the wind knocked out of her, but I know that's clearly not the case.

"I...I-" she starts to choke on the words, only to be cut off by another screech from an Alien.

"Another one?!" I shout the rhetorical question, standing up and looking around for the source of the screech. I hear a loud thud above and behind me. I quickly turn around to see an Alien mounted on the hut roof. "Shit!" I grab Cupa's hand and start running just as the Alien attempts to pounce on the two of us, only to remember my speed is doubled, too high to be pulling someone on foot. She could get hurt if I continue like this. I slow down and pick her up in my arms again. I hear the Alien's footsteps behind us, running just as fast as I am. "God dammit. Why are there Aliens here?! They're not even supposed to be near the surface!"

"'Aliens'?" Cupa questions.

"That's what those things are called. They're Aliens from the OreSpawn mod."

"What do you mean 'mod'?"

There's no time for this! I turn around to see the Alien gaining on us. Shit! "Don't worry about it." I turn my head forward again to see a large stone wall that I swear wasn't there before. "Shit!" I can't gather my thoughts enough to think of something to do. "Hold on tight!" Cupa wraps her arms around the back of my neck as I take a step off of the ground, jumping upward. As soon as one of my feet hit the wall I immediately follow up with the other. I get a few steps-large steps, might I add-up the wall but am weighed down my Cupa. After those few steps, gravity comes back into effect and I have to launch us off the wall. Cupa screams as we go into the flip backwards, before she loses her grip on me, falling to the ground below. "Cupa!" I yell, still in midair, completing the wall flip. The Alien runs straight into the solid stone wall and Cupa lands right behind it. She lands on her feet, but that means the force from the impact goes straight through them. My speed boost got us further up the wall before being pulled down by gravity, but that only means the fall was higher. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she'd crumpled to it as well. Shifting from our combined weight to just mine had changed the course of my fall. Instead of sticking the landing, once my feet hit the ground I quickly tumble backward and roll like a human tumbleweed. I look up to see Cupa struggling to pick herself up off of the ground. As the Alien is recovering, Cupa stands up, only to fall right back down. She took some kind of injury; I hope, whatever it is, it is isn't serious. She stands up once more, remaining up this time, though standing weakly. I see the Alien now on its feet and quickly pick myself up onto mine as well. It raises its arm to swipe Cupa. I run faster than I ever have before and grab her, holding her against me. I dive away from the Alien, holding Cupa tightly as I do so. As we fall away from the Alien, it's powerful claw comes down hard, cutting straight through my jeans and putting a deep gash in my leg. I cringe from the pain but don't make any external sign of being hit. Cupa and I tumble down a grassy hill. With her safely secured in my arms, I cushion her from most of the damage. We tumble down the hill until there's no hill left. Not because we hit the ground at the bottom_**(In a way they did)**_, but because we fall off of the edge at the end. The two of us fall straight down another few blocks before we hit the hard, stone ground below. I hit headfirst and my vision immediately goes black. It fades back in, slightly blurry, to Cupa looking down at me. I hear her call my name but it sounds really distant. My vision fades to black once more before fading back in again. This time I'm moving, being carried by Cupa. The carrying doesn't last long though. A few seconds after me waking up again, I limply fall to the ground and my eyes fall back down heavily. The last thing I see before blacking out for good is a ground view of Cupa falling down right after me.


	20. Clawed Carbon Skull

**Chapter 20: Clawed Carbon Skull**

_**(Cupa's POV)**_

"...Why?" I ask myself as I lie on the ground, stating up at the sky. Why did I push him to bring me here? Why couldn't I just wait until he got back from building the new house, which is what I now know he was doing. Why am I such an idiot?! Tears continue to stream down my face. "Dammit." I say through my crying. The Alien's footsteps continue to get closer and closer. Why couldn't I do anything to save Jordan and myself? Why...am I so useless? I stand up and look at the approaching Alien, wiping the tears off my face. "Jordan, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making you bring me. I'm sorry for luring out the Alien. I'm sorry I couldn't be anything more than a damsel in distress. I'm not completely useless, though." Being a creeper, there's one thing I actually _can_ do. "This happened because of me, and if it'll save yours and right my wrong, I'll willingly give my life." I say, one final tear sliding down my cheek. I muster up the explosive energy I have within me, letting out a slight hiss. As I slowly start to flash, I limp toward the oncoming Alien. I quicken the pace of my walk as much as possible with only one good foot. Once the Alien is within five blocks of me I lunge forward, pushing entirely off of my good foot. Exploding should kill the Alien, even if it takes me with it. This is a sacrifice I'm willing to make; hopefully it's worth it. As soon as I make contact with the Alien I detonate myself and, as expected, everything goes black.

* * *

...

...

...

My body...my body is cold. No heat whatsoever. I can't feel even the smallest degree of warmth anywhere on me. I feel...emptiness...nothing but pure emptiness. I can't manage to move a single part of my body... Am I dead? No...no I'm not. I know I'm not. Ringing. Loud ringing is all I can hear. Vibrating right in my ear drums. The rest of the world is silent. Nothing can surpass the sound of this ringing. I barely manage to pry my eyes open, just about no energy left in my body. I can only muster up the power to get them ajar. I look at my limp arm through my half-open eyes to see a white glow emanating from it and probably the rest of my body as well. My chest heaves heavily as I let ragged puffs of oxygen in and out of my lungs. I can barely even breath without it hurting. ...Why? I was supposed to die. I wanted to die. I wanted to give myself for Jordan. So...why am I still here? Why am I still alive? I look up to the dark night sky above me. ...Why...?

* * *

_**(? POV)**_

I observe the scene going down from the high spot I perched my self at. I'd seen a good amount of what's happened so far. The Alien first attacking Cupa, and that guy, who I'm damn sure is Jordan, saving her. The failed wall flip he'd tried and him saving Cupa again. Even him getting knocked out. He was dumb to rush in like that, but that's something I'd always looked up to him for. The son of a bitch always did have some serious guts, of course that'd often get him into deep shit like this. I know he can handle it though; I believe in him. That's the only reason I haven't gone down to help them, but now that he's out shit'll probably go downhill. One thing's for sure: if that _is_ Jordan down there, I'm not definitely letting those two die. Not like I would if they were strangers but I'm not just gonna sit back and watch a friend of mine die. I watch as the Alien gains ground on Cupa, my ultimate bow already drawn in case I need to make a move. Cupa stands up, having fell down while carrying Jordan. "What the hell?" I ask myself as she starts to flash white. "Don't tell me she's..." She starts advancing toward the Alien. "She is!" I say, eyes wide in shock. Before I can do anything, Cupa explodes at point blank range of the Alien. "Shit!" I say as I pull my mask down over my face and my hood up over my head. The mask is a black skull that I'd painted two groups of three long, intersecting lines, resembling claw marks, onto. Three blue diagonal ones and three red vertical ones. I grab my hoverboard and hop off of my perch at the edge of a cliff, putting the hoverboard under my feet. I watch as I fly down. The explosion quickly dissipated and where it had just happened is...Cupa?! "How the hell did she survive?" I think out loud. She lies on the ground, unconscious, her green creeper hoodie tattered with burn marks scattered all over it. Dark spots cover random areas of her body; probably spot or gunpowder or something. The explosion had knocked the Alien far backwards, but didn't kill it. It staggers to the ground, barely even able to stand. I draw an arrow once more with my ultimate bow, aiming at the Alien, before releasing it as I fly overhead of it. Just as it manages to stand, the arrow strikes it in the back and it falls to the ground again. Now low enough, I abandoned my hoverboard and pull out my ultimate sword. I charge at the downed Alien. It swipes its claw horizontally at me and I jump over it, pulling a front flip before landing right on top of the Alien and thrusting my sword into its head, finishing it off. I hop down off of the dead Alien and make my way to the two who had just been in a battle with it. As I approach them, my guess proves correct. Just as I thought, it is Jordan with her. As I approach them I also notice something. Something odd. As I look at Cupa I swear her body is emitting a dim white glow. As if she has a visible white aura around her. The longer I look the more it recedes. Within a few seconds it's already gone. It disappeared so fast I can't say for sure if it was actually even there or if these past two weeks in Minecraftia alone have been making me delirious. I kneel down to Cupa and see she's looking at me through half-open eyes, them blankly following my movements. I pick her up in my arms and start toward the wooden hut Jordan was building for the two of them.

"Jor...dan..." Cupa says weakly, sticking out a hand, that's just as frail as her voice, in his direction. I say nothing in return, but I will go back for him. He can take more than her, even unconscious. I make my way up the hill they just fell down and place Cupa gently against the wall in the hut once I reach it. I turn around and get part of the way through the door before Cupa's voice stops me. "Please...help...Jordan..." I turn around to see Cupa reaching out to me just like she had reached for Jordan. In her eyes I see a look of deep sorrow. I walk up to her and kneel down to eye level with her. I softly grip her arm, pulling it back down to her side. She looks at me through tearful eyes. I put my hands on her shoulders and give a reassuring nod.

* * *

I cut a Notch apple into slices, squeezing the slices and letting the juice drip into a glass bottle like an orange. It's not exactly a very effective way to go about it but it's all I got and it gets the job done. With no alternative to juicing it, I'm as careful as I can, trying to get as much as possible. I pull up Jordan's pant leg and apply the juice to the wound. This'll fight off infection and heal him faster. It'll also heal any torn muscle caused by the injury as if it had never happened. The wound's healing will still leave a scar though. Since it's being applied directly and he isn't ingesting it, that's as far as the effects will go. He'll be fine in a few days' time. In my time here I've done plenty of experimenting with the items and this is just one of my discoveries. Wasting as little time as possible, I start to suture the wound in his leg. A few days ago I'd woken up with a medical kit next to me, but the only thing in it was five surgical needles, a spool of suture thread, and a pair of scissors; otherwise it was completely empty. I didn't know when or how it got to me or where it came from but I took it. Now it's coming in handy. I didn't see too much blood on the ground where he was so he should be fine there. Amazingly enough, there was no visible sign of any type of head injury. Falling five meters headfirst onto stone and not taking so much as a scratch as a result. I don't know how the hell it happens but it honestly freaks me out a little. It's weird to say the slightest. As I continue stitching up Jordan's leg, I look at it for a second before turning my to Cupa. "Your jacket." I utter my first words said around the creeper girl.

"What?" She asks, surprised at the sound of my voice.

"I need something to bandage up his leg. Considering the condition of your jacket, you wouldn't mind, no?" I look at Cupa through the mesh eyes of my mask.

"I...I guess not. Anything to help. This is my fault, after all." she says sadly as she starts to take her jacket off, revealing a plain white t-shirt and her green short shorts underneath. Her last statement makes me stop the nearly finished suturing on Jordan.

"No it's not."

"But I-"

"No. It's not. You didn't know or intend that he'd get hurt. Don't beat yourself up over that. It was nothing more than an accident. And Jordan would say the same." I finish up the suture job and Cupa hands me her torn hoodie. I tear it even further into one long strip. Without any adhesive end, I'm precise with how I wrap up the wound. I make sure to wrap around the beginning end of the strip, rather than going right on top of it. Once I've wrapped it once, I go over it again before tying the two ends together not too tightly, but not too loosely. Once finished, I take a second to look at my work. Not a bad job, considering I've never had any medical training or experience. I pack up whatever I have left over back into the med-kit and put that back into my backpack before slinging that over my shoulder, standing up, and proceeding toward the hut door.

"Wait." Cupa's voice calls out to me weakly. I turn around and am immediately embraced in a tight hug from the significantly shorter redhead. A "Thank you..." comes from her, muffled by her face being buried in the front of my hoodie. Cupa pulls her face away from my jacket. "Thank you so much. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Jordan died because of me." she says as tears run down her face. I hesitate, my hands hovering in the air, unsure where to go. It's not often that I'm hugged by a girl outside of my family. My brain snaps back into action and I drop my hands around her, embracing her gently enough to not hurt her. "I'm sorry. We're complete strangers, yet I'm behaving this way toward you." Cupa says as she lets me go, backing away from me. I already miss the hug as soon as it ends. Jordan's lucky to be dating someone like her.

"It's fine. You take care of your boyfriend here. He'll have to stay off of that leg for a few days, but otherwise he should be just fine." I pretend not to know either of them.

"H-he's not my...boyfriend..." Cupa tries to conceal her reddening face. Oh, really? My mask conceals the look of surprise on my face. I cock my eyebrow under my mask.

"Even so," I turn back around to face the door, "I'd recommend you tell him to take it easy. I saw what happened; more recklessness like that could claim his life some day." I turn only my head back to look at Cupa. "Eat this" I toss her a Notch apple. "That ankle won't get any better if you don't. And sorry about your jacket. Maybe he'll give you a new one to make up for it." I look at the black and red checkered hoodie Jordan's wearing before returning my focus to making my exit.

As I walk out of and away from the hut, the creeper girl calls out to me once more, "Wait!" I slow my pace, but don't stop walking, my hands in my pockets as I do so. "Thank you! Really!" she shouts presumably from the doorway. I give a two-finger pseudosalute, as I call them, raising two fingers to my head before 'saluting' her, before returning my hand to my pocket. "What's your name?!" I offer no words to answer her question. "Mine's Cupa!" I continue to walk off into the distance, taking every step in silence.

Once far enough away, I pull my hood back down and my mask back up. "Alright, Jared," I congratulate myself, "you're establishing yourself in this world." I walk onward with a smug half-smile on my face. "Maybe," I look up at the night sky, watching the clouds slowly creep across it, "Minecraftia isn't so bad after all."


	21. Strength

**_Thousands of ideas. Zero motivation._**

**Chapter 21: Strength**

**_(Cupa's POV)_**

I continue to kneel beside Jordan. At this point I've lost track of how long it's been since that masked man left. I'm worried about Jordan. He's breathing, but doesn't respond to anything. The only part of his body that's moving at all is his chest as he breathes. As I look at his unconscious body, my body starts to move on its own. I find myself being drawn to him. As I get closer and closer to him, I feel my heart beating faster and faster. I've been waiting for some alone time with Jordan since Ana first showed up and ruined it. And all the others that followed suit didn't exactly help. Now that I think about it...this is as good an opportunity as any. With him unconscious, I have him all to myself...

I bring my face closer and closer to his, and, even though I know he's unaware of what I'm doing, I still feel my face heat up as it approaches his. My lips make contact with his and I feel my heart skip a beat. I open his jaw with my hand and insert my tongue, roaming around the inside of his mouth with it, all the while losing myself in the act. I feel a tingling sensation in my vagina and my hand drifts its way down there, slipping into my shorts and under my panties. When the need for oxygen begins to overwhelm me, I break away from Jordan, leaving a string of saliva trailing between our mouths. My heart continues to thump faster, beating out of my chest. As I continue to play with myself, only one though comes to mind: My first cycle is starting.

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

"Uuuuuhhhhnnn...fucking hell..." I groan as I suddenly become conscious of a sharp headache. I open my eyes and sit up, inside of the hut I was building.

"Jordan!" I hear Cupa's voice as I put a hand to my head.

"Shit...what the hell happened...?" I ask as Cupa, who was kneeling next to me, tackles me back to the ground in a tight embrace. Her arms wrap around my midsection with a grip that doesn't show any sign of wanting to let go. Taken by surprise, I just lie on the ground with Cupa on top of me for a second before returning the hug she's delivering.

"I'm so glad...you're okay." Cupa cries into my black tank top.

I sit back up, still holding the creeper girl in my arms, before catching a glimpse of my wounded left leg. Wrapped tightly around it are slightly bloodied green bandages. Green...bandages...? I pull Cupa away from me, now noticing her moderately destroyed creeper hoodie. "Your hoodie..." I comment quietly.

"It's...it's okay...really..." Cupa responds in her usual quiet, abashed voice.

"Take it off." I tell her sternly as I begin to remove my hoodie.

"Wh-what?!" she asks, her face red from embarrassment.

"Take off the hoodie." I repeat in the same matter as I just said, my hoodie now completely off.

Cupa quickly scuttles away from me, facing the opposite direction as well. "He..wants me t-to...s-strip..." I hear her say under her breath. Her hands rush to her red face, shielding her scarlet cheeks from my sight. I'll go ahead and pretend I didn't notice what she just said.

"I won't say it again." I say, maintaining the exact same tone of voice. Cupa turns her head to me, her nervous eyes meeting mine for a split-second, before almost immediately averting her gaze once more. Still facing away from me, she proceeds to slowly and sheepishly remove her hoodie, or what's left of it. Once it's off and lying on the ground, I pick it up and toss it aside. Cupa now turns around and looks at me in slight fear, but more nervousness. I can see her breathing rapidly, her chest quickly rising and falling as she kneels in front of me. Her face remains as red as it was before she took the hoodie off. I stand up and slowly approach her. As I take the first few steps, she attempts to move backward and trips, landing on her ass. Jesus Christ, what is she so scared of? Me. Duh. I still don't know just what it is about me that intimidates her. Cupa covers her eyes, expecting God-knows-what, and I take the moment to drape my hoodie across her back, pulling the hood up over her head. She pulls her hands away from her eyes and I back away back to the spot I woke up in.

"I...I can wear this?"

"To do that you'll have to put your arms in the sleeves." I take a seat on the grass beneath us. This being a temporary shelter, I didn't bother making it very presentable or comfortable. Just something to spend the night in. Cupa puts her arms into the sleeves of my hoodie just as I said and pulls the zipper all the way up.

"I don't know if it's your color, but-"

"I love it." Cupa wraps her arms around herself, seemingly getting lost in thought for a second before looking at me with a slight blush as well as a smile on her face. Seeing her like this, I can't help but smile along with her. I bring my index finger up to my eye, getting a "What are you doing?" out of Cupa.

"Taking out my contacts."

"Your...what...?"

"Contacts. They help me see without having to wear my glasses." I never wear my glasses when I'm going anywhere to do anything where they could get lost or broken. "You're not supposed to sleep in them," I pull the first contact lens off of my eye, "so if I happen to be wearing them around that time-which I never am-I have to take them off. I didn't bring my glasses and didn't put them in my 'closet' back in the Overworld, so I have no way to get them. So I'll have shitty vision until we get back home." I finish just as I get off my other contact. "By the way," I blink a few times before turning my attention to Cupa, "we have to sleep on the floor; we can't use beds in alternate dimensions."

"Why not?"

"Do you want to explode?" At that comment, Cupa's countenance immediately shifts from normal to sad and she looks at the ground. I don't know what's up with her, but I can just sense the negativity of it. "Hey...you alright?"

"I...I'm fine." Cupa does her best to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes and plaster a smile on her face, but I can see through the act all too easily.

"Cupa," I approach the creeper girl, "I don't like being lied to. I know something's wrong. Now tell me what it is." I look her in the eyes and her facade takes mere seconds to break down. Her smile disappears immediately and tears start rolling down her face. I don't like the sight. Something about girls being sad has always gotten to me; it fucks me up emotionally. I grab her and pull her in close, wrapping my arms around her.

"Jordan..." Cupa cries into my shirt. "I...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Getting you into this. I," she sniffles, "didn't mean for this to happen. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I didn't know that would happen. I-I-"

"That's it? Cupa it's fine. You just wanted to have some time alone with me. Away from everybody else." I picked up on her jealousy towards the others from the day Ana showed up in the house. Though, considering the comment at which her attitude shifted, I'd say it runs deeper than that.

"Tha...that's not it..."

Called it. "What is it then?"

"I...when you...I tried..." Cupa chokes out bits and pieces of...something. I don't know what, but something.

"Cupa. Slow down. Organize your thoughts. Take it one sentence at a time."

Cupa pulls say from me and wipes her face. After a moment of silence, she speaks up, "I...I caused you to get hurt. This was my fault. So I tried to right that wrong and make myself of actual use. But I'm just a creeper. I'm the most useless out of everyone in the house." I can see more tears making their way down her face. "There's almost nothing I can do. Almost."

My eyes start to widen as I realize where this is going. "You didn't..." I say, hoping she didn't try what I think she did.

"I tried to kill the alien the only way I could."

"No."

"I thought," her voice cracks and she sniffles. "I thought that if...if I exploded-"

"Shut up."

"I could kill the alien like that. I wanted to give my life so you could keep yours."

"_Shut up."_

_"_But even after that, it was still alive. I," Cupa's already completely broken out in tears again. "I tried to kill myself. But even then it wasn't enough!" Cupa looks up at me, her face red, tears streaming from her eyes, and her nose even starting to run a little bit. "Why am I so weak? So useless?!"

I grab her again, pulling her in and holding her tighter than last time. "I said shut up." I keep my voice as steady as I can. Truth is, I almost want to cry too. I don't deserve to have a girl-or anyone for that matter-crying over me. Seeing Cupa like this tugs at my heartstrings. My emotions are all jumbled and I'm confused on what exactly I feel but I know it hurts. "Don't ever talk like that again. Just because you may not have any abilities as powerful as the others doesn't make you weak. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. To choose between your life and another's is something no one should ever have to do. But to make the choice you made takes courage. Knowing what will happen to you and still deciding to go through with it for someone else's sake shows just what strength you have. You may not think it yourself, but you're anything but weak, Cupa."

I pull away from her to look her in the eyes. Tears are coming down even more than before. "Jordan..." she manages to choke out through her crying.

I bring her back into my embrace, not wanting to let her go. My heart aches more as this conversation continues. "Cupa," my voice shakes and a few tears actually start to run down my face. "Don't ever do anything like this again. Please. I," I choke on my words. "I couldn't bear losing you. I don't know what I would do without you."

Cupa's arms tighten around me, but I don't really mind it. I'm thankful that she's still here to even do this. She buries her head into my chest and cries harder. Go ahead Cupa. Let it all out.

"Jordan," I hear her say after a few minutes of silence. Our embrace slightly loosened with the time that passed, but neither of us really show any signs of intending to let go of each other. We're both too afraid to lose the other.

"Yeah?"

"I...I...I love you!" Cupa hesitates before rushing the sentence out. She looks up at me with embarrassment in her eyes and a blush on her face.

I'm taken aback by the sheer spontaneity of the comment. I've never actually heard this from her. There was that time right after I met Ana when I tested her by asking her, but I'm not counting that since I pressured her into saying it. Ana says it to me on occasion to tease me, but I just ignore that. I do know what Cupa means when she says that, and the problem is that I don't feel the same way. That is, not exactly. Over the past two months I've spent here, I'd say the mob girls that I've grown closest two are Cupa and Neige. Luna is close behind the two. I wouldn't say I like any of the mob girls romantically but they are all really close and important to me. I would say that I do in fact love Cupa and Neige, but just not in _that_ way and-why the hell am I still thinking about this?!

"I..." I can't help but pause there, taking a second to think about just what I'm about to say. "I love you too, Cupa."

Her face lights up for a moment before the words sink in. Then the blush she's become known for spreads across her face and she looks down to the ground. Defining behavior for her.

After spending a moment like that, Cupa repositions herself so that she's sitting in my lap. I don't really question it. After what she just went through, she needs something to feel good again. I just wraps my arms around her and roll with it. I scoot the two of us back until I feel the wall behind me. Cupa and I just look up at the stars through the few blocks of empty space in the unfinished roof. I probably should actually plug that up with some wood planks but it's a little too late to be doing that.

"Jordan," Cupa's small voice calls to me.

"Hm?"

"Can you sing me something? Like you did for Ana? She told me all about how amazing your voice sounded."

I can't help but give a small smile at the request. "Alright." I answer her as I think of something that would suit her. Got it.

"Woooooaaah  
Aaaaaayyyy  
Woooooaaah-oh-oh

I've been waiting on the sunset  
Bills on my mindset  
I can't deny they're getting high.  
Higher than my income  
Income's breadcrumbs  
I've been trying to survive

The glow that the sun gives right around sunset  
Helps me realize  
That this is just a journey  
Drop your worries  
You are gonna turn out fine  
Oh, you'll turn out fine  
Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine

But you gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
And you can let your hair down, aayy  
You gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
And you can let your hair down, aayy

I know it's hard, know it's hard  
To remember sometimes  
But you gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
And you can let your hairs down, ay-ay-ay-ay

I've got my hands in my pockets  
Kickin' these rocks  
It's kinda hard to watch this life go by  
I'm buyin' into skeptics  
Skeptics mess with, the confidence in my eyes

I'm seein' all the angles, starts gettin' tangled  
I start to compromise  
My life and my purpose,  
Is it all worth it?  
Am I gonna turn out fine?  
Oh, you'll turn out fine  
Fine, oh, you'll turn out fine

But you gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
And you can let your hair down, aayy  
You gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
And you can let your hair down, aayy

I know its hard, know it's hard  
To remember sometimes  
But you gotta keep your head up, oohh,  
Then you can let your hair down, ay-ay-ay-ay"

At this point I start to hear a soft snore coming from Cupa. She's asleep, which means I should probably be too. I lie my head back against the wall behind me and close my eyes. Not the most comfortable sleeping situation I've been in, but I've had worse. Within minutes I feel myself dozing off, being sucked into slumber and the realm of dreams.

* * *

**_(Skye's POV)_**

I stretch and let out a quiet yawn and I slowly awake up from my slumber. I to roll over from my left side onto my right. "Good morning, Jo-" I stop when I feel my hand make contact with the bed's red blanket rather than my boyfriend. That's right...he hasn't come back yet. I sit up straight in the bed, pulling my knees up to my chest. "Jordan..." I say as tears well up in my eyes "...please...come back soon..." It takes almost no time at all for the tears to start falling. They slide down my face as I think about him. It's only been a day, but I miss him so much. Why...why did he have to leave without telling anybody? What if he never comes back? That damn idiot! Why is he making me worry about him so much?! Why? Why why why?! I take the pillow from behind me and smash my face into it, letting out a scream that quickly converts into crying.

"Miss Skye...?" I hear Neige's quiet voice say groggily.

I look over to her bed to see her starting to sit up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. At the foot of the bed, Luna is also awaking from her sleep, letting out a groan in the process.

I wipe the tears from my face before either of them can notice them. "I'm sorry, you guys. I'm just really worried about Jordan. It's been a full twenty-four hours and he still hasn't come back. And Andr hasn't returned either, so we have no way to even know where he went. I just..." My voice shakes and I sniffle as tears start to well up in my eyes again. "If I never get to see him again, I-I-"

_BOOM!_

I'm cut off by a loud explosion and the house shaking hard. Judging by how much we shook, the explosion was close-or worse, hit the house.

Less than ten seconds later Raphael bursts through the door, barely able to maintain his footing in his rush. "Everybody up! You guys are gonna want to see this!"


	22. Dragon Attack

**Chapter 22: Dragon Attack**

Neige, Luna, and I rush to the open end of the room, each of us peering over the fence railing. We see nothing for a good five seconds before a flaming ball comes shooting through the air from the nearby forest. Aimed straight at this room!

"Get down!" Neige exclaims as she pulls both Luna and I into a prone position.

The fireball flies right over the railing and hits the ceiling behind us, exploding on contact and blowing a sizable hole into it.

Right as the three of us get up and start to make our way to the door, a roar thunders from the same direction that the fireball came from. We pile out of the room and down the stairs, bursting out of the front door of the house. Jason and Ana are both already out there. Jason is armed with a diamond sword, a regular bow, and a handful of arrows. Jason draws an arrow and looks out into the distance, his eyes steady on the forest.

Another vicious roar bellows from the forest, this one strong enough for us to feel the force from it. We all cover our ears and stagger.

_CRASH!_

Several blocks of wood pop out of the trees and fly toward us. And I don't mean mined, ready-to-pick-up sized blocks. _Whole blocks_ fly at us!

I jump back and one lands directly where I was with a force that knocks me off my feet. "Raphael!" I turn around and yell up to him.

He hadn't left the top floor of the house, probably trying to assemble his gear. A controversial idea. While he'll be better equipped, he's also not on the defensive while searching, more vulnerable than the rest of us. If something comes his way without him knowing, he won't have much of a way to avoid it.

"Gotcha!" He tosses my ultimate bow down to me, knowing what I was thinking.

Just as he does this I hear-and feel-large footsteps quickly approaching behind me. Rather than catching the bow, I quickly turn around see a giant creature that looks like a mix between a T-Rex and a dragon barreling towards me.

The monster is huge-about five blocks tall-and unnecessarily bulky. It's large, grey body is similar in size and shape to a T-Rex from Jurassic Park, with the exception of the arms, that it's a bit slimmer, and the horns on its head. It has sharp-looking dark red dorsal spines trailing down its spine all the way to the tip of the tail. Instead of having small, useless arms, it has arms proportional to its size that gradually darken all the way down to the jet black claws at the end. Attached to these arms are broad, dark red wings.

I dodge roll out of the way, and the dragon collides with the side of the house. Its head ends up going into the room on the others' shared bedroom. Where Raphael is.

Instead of backing out, it stays in that spot. You can hear its powerful jaws snapping shut over and over again.

"Raphael!" I shout up to him in desperation for a response.

* * *

**_(Cupa's POV)_**

I let out a yawn and reach up to rub the sleep out of my eyes. They don't reach very far; something is pinning my arms down. I open my eyes and realize that it's Jordan's arms around me. Wait...what?! Jordan's arms are around me?! Since when?! I can already feel my heart rate starting to pick up. A blush spreads across my face, and I smile to myself.

I try to lift his arms off of me so that I can get up, but upon my pulling, his arms wrap around me tighter. I can feel my blush burning hotter. Why is he so intent on keeping hold of me?

I sit and bask in his warmth and embrace for a while until I hear a low moan and, before I know it, the embrace is gone.

A yawn escapes Jordan's mouth and he stretches his long arms before dropping them in the same place as before.

I turn my head around and look at him. His chocolate-brown skin. His facial features. His mustache and chin beard. I never noticed the mole above the end of his left eyebrow. Lastly, I look at his closed eyes. Closed? But didn't he just...?

"You awake?" I ask.

"Mm-mm" he responds, shaking his head.

"Come on, we've gotta get home."

"Five more minutes..." His eyes are still closed, but he's clearly completely awake. One thing I notice is how gruff and gravelly his voice is. Is this what he's like in the morning?

"Come on!" I pester him.

He lets out a groan but does slowly rise to his feet, stretching and cracking his neck once he's standing. "Morning."

"About last night..."

Jordan halts his actions, slowing for a second before coming to a complete stop. "What of it?"

"I've never seen you like that."

"Don't get too used to it; you won't be seeing that side of me a lot. Besides, in terms of the less-seen sides of me, you haven't seen anything yet." He remarks, his voice not losing any of its initial roughness.

Something about that voice...it makes my heart race. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but I find it...attractive. Extremely attractive. I don't reply to his comment. I just sit and think.

"Alright, up and at 'em," he says, hoisting me up. "Time to go."

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

Cupa and I have been walking around the Mining Dimension for a while in search for a red ant to take us back to the Overworld. We've been searching for about a half hour and have had no luck thus far.

"Okay, describe him one more time for me." I say.

"He was wearing a black hoodie, grey jeans, and a black skull mask. The mask had six lines, three blue diagonal ones, and three red vertical. He was about as tall as you, and fought similarly. Well, kinda."

"Explain."

"Well, He had an average-pitched voice, not too high, not too low. From his hands, he was white. That's all I got from him in terms of appearance."

"Not really much to go off of." But more than enough. That was Jared, without a doubt.

"He didn't give me much."

Cupa has to support me as we walk. She's the one who actually has two functional legs.

"Meh."

"Are we going somewhere in specific?"

"Mhm."

"Where?"

"The hill. It should be either at the top or the bottom."

"What should?"

"My hat." I run a hand through my hair.

"Your hat..."

"Yup."

"Is it really that important?"

"Do you ever see me without one?"

"Not really."

"Well there you go."

"Is your leg okay?" Cupa looks at me with guilty, sorrowful eyes.

"Well, it's still there."

Cupa looks at the ground.

"Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm fine. You said it'd be completely healed in a few days, right?"

"That's what the masked man told me."

"Hm."

I continue to limp alongside Cupa. The limping is a bit annoying for me, but I'm sure Cupa has no objections to me clinging onto her as we walk.

We find my hat and continue to walk in silence for a while, until Cupa breaks the silence.

"Jordan," Cupa looks up at me.

"Hm?"

"What you said...last night...it meant a lot to me."

I remain silent. I know exactly what she's talking about.

"Did...did you really mean it?"

I look up to the sky, as if I might find the answer floating atop a cloud, before turning my attention to her. "Of course I did. But you shouldn't misunderstand." I revert my attention to the sky. "I do love you. But what you need to understand is that it's completely platonic. I don't love you or anyone else in the same way I love Skye."

"I figured as much." Cupa slightly tightens her grip around my midsection.

She seems to be taking this better than I'd expected. I expected for her to be saddened, but she seems rather pleased by what I said. Cupa looks up at me with her signature smile, and, as always, I can't help but smile right back at her.

Cupa takes her eyes off of me and, almost immediately, exclaims, "Jordan!"

"Okay, I get that we're outside, but please, indoor voices! I'm right damn next to you!" I remark.

"An ant!"

* * *

_**(Third Person POV)**_

"Raphael!" Skye exclaims.

"I'm good!" Raphael says from inside of his shared bedroom.

He stays where he is, his back against the wall opposite the dragon-creature's large head, paralyzed in fear. He can feel his heart rate accelerating at he stares at the dragon's large head. He looks around the room for one of the weapons he'd grabbed before the dragon rushed the house. He spots his bow and diamond sword, both conveniently located next to the giant mouth of the reptilian behemoth. "Well that's just fucking great." he says to himself. The chest he stores his gear in lies more or less equidistant between the dragon and himself.

Raphael attempts to take a single step toward the chest, but immediately steps back as the dragon snaps its large, powerful jaws in his direction. He stands there, pressed even harder against the wall than before, his palms already sweaty. Before he can try anything else, the dragon opens its jaws once more, but not shutting them this time. The Filipino boy feels an unseen force attempting to pull him toward the gaping mouth, increasing in strength slowly. Whole wooden planks start to slowly slide and pop out of the ground and fly into the dragon's open mouth. The dragon is inhaling him!

Raphael soon finds himself, too, slowly moving toward the mouth against his will. He grabs onto the nightstand next to him just as his legs are lifted off of the floor. His sweaty palms, however, provide him with quite the setback and he loses his grip within seconds. No less than a second later, the nightstand itself is also ripped from the ground and sent hurtling into the mouth of the dragon. Raphael tries to find any sort of grip along the floor but to no avail. He's pulled through the air until he manages to get a grasp on a nearby bed, the red fleece blanket to which had already been pulled off. He barely-and luckily-manages to get his fingers on the actual wooden frame instead of the mattress, which he sees slide right out from under him and into the dragon's jaws.

"Shit! Nononononono!" Raphael says as the bed the frame starts to separate from the wooden planks it was placed on, bringing him with it. It doesn't take long for it, and him with it, to end up in the air completely. He manages to pull himself to the side of the frame facing away from the dragon, and uses both feet to kick the frame with all his might. The frame shoots faster toward the dragon and Raphael gains a bit of distance from it. Once the frame hits the back of its throat, the dragon stops inhaling and Raphael falls to the ground, tumbling almost all the way to the wall. Whether the bed frame shocked the dragon into stopping, or if that was as much as it could suck up, isn't of Raphael's concern; he's just happy to be alive.

Raphael tries to stand up but immediately fumbles back to the floor, having lost almost all feeling in his legs. The dragon lets out a roar that makes Raphael cover is ears to prevent his eardrums from bursting. After a second, the dragon opens its mouth again, leaving it open just like last time. This time however, there's an orange-ish light at the back of its throat, growing brighter by the second. It doesn't take Raphael to guess what this light meant: another fireball is coming. He finds himself unable to move again, once more paralyzed with fear, this time at probably the most inopportune moment possible. The light only grows brighter and brighter, and, in time, a low humming noise can be heard emanating from the dragon.

Raphael closes his eyes, ready for the end. He starts to tune out the commotion, eventually hearing nothing more than the sound of his own beating heart, and seeing nothing more than flashes of his life, from his earliest memory up until where he is now. Just as the slideshow of memories ends, he hears the door burst open, and, before he can look to see who it is, a hand grabs him and jerks him up to his feet, and pulls him out of the room. And just in the nick of time; an explosion booms behind him and shakes the house, causing his to lose what little footing he had and tumble down the stairs.

* * *

_**(Skye's POV)**_

"My attacks aren't doing anything!' I shout in irritation as I lower my bow. We've been attacking the dragon since it crashed into the house after Raphael. I hope the son of a bitch is doing alright up there.

Just as I finish that thought, an explosions booms loudly from the house, and the dragon stumbles back, screeching and reaching for its eyes. About fifteen seconds later, Ana bursts through the front door, holding up Raphael.

"You good?" I ask him while firing another arrow at the stunned dragon. I know it won't do anything but I need to at least try to hurt it.

"I-I'm fine," Raphael pants. "I just...just need to catch my breath. And I can barely feel my legs." He's hunched over, hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Hurry up and get your ass in gear, then!" I toss a sword in his direction that he dodges in fear of the sharp edge. "This thing's destroying the house! We've gotta take it down and we've gotta do it _fast_!"

The dragon retracts its hands from its face and lets out another thunderous roar, now angry and irritated.

"I think we pissed it off!" Jason exclaims!

"Skye's the one shooting at the thing! If anything, she pissed it off!" Luna says.

"_Me?!_" I shoot back at her.

"It took its own explosion to the face. If anything, it pissed itself off." Ana picks up a bow and joins in the fight.

At this moment, Andr warps back, only to witness the battle currently going down.

"What the hell happened?! What the hell is going on?!" she says as she warps next to me.

"This dragon just randomly showed up and started destroying everything!" I hear Jason say.

"That sentence was so idiotic that I refuse to acknowledge it as a logical statement." Andr says.

"It's true!" Jason insists.

"Whatever. What can I do to help?" Andr turns to me.

Before I can say anything, Raphael speaks up: "That thing inhales whatever material it can. Once it's sucked up all it can take in, it converts it into energy and shoots it out of its mouth as a fireball. If we can dig out some type of ditch or trench or something, we can gain some ground on it. It wouldn't exactly give us an advantage but it'd at least put us on equal standing with it. For as long as the hole lasts, that is!"

"You heard the man!" I yell at everyone. "Get to work on a ditch; somewhere where we wont get sucked into this thing's gut and turned into a fireball!"

"We mob girls can't mine. Our mob blood won't let us." Andr adds.

"Then we stay on the offensive while the humans get to work on digging." Ana says.

"Sounds good to me." Andr says.

"Will you guys be alright fighting?" I ask the group of half-humans.

"I was created to protect Master. Even if he may not be here, protecting you is the least I can do, Miss Skye." Neige says.

"Neige..." I start, but can't find the words to finish the sentence.

"It's been a while since my last good hunt." Luna says. The look in her eye resembles an a predatory animal being released from a cage. One easy thing to notice is how she's baring her teeth. A wicked smile on her face, her sharp, fang-like, canine teeth visible. Wait. Have her claws always been that sharp?

Looking over at Andr, I notice her appearance has changed as well. Her eyes are glowing brightly, and her canines and nails are also noticeably sharper.

"We'll be fine; you get to work on the digging." Ana says.

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

I look down at my map.

"Okay, we're _here_," I point to our current location on the map, marked by my red blip. "And the new house and Leon are _here_." I point to the location of the house I showed Cupa yesterday. "We just need to get there and ride Leon back to the house _here_," I point to the location of our current house, which is clustered with the blips for Raphael, Skye, and Jason. " Then get everyone and take them back _here_." I point once more to the new house. "Sounds simple enough." Looking at the map, I also see two more blips, one presumably Shawn's and the other probably Jared's.

I fold up the map and put it into one of the side pockets of my bag. One thing I discovered about this world: only the main department-or departments for standard backpacks-of whatever type of backpack you have affects inventory space, meaning you can put smaller things into the other pockets and they won't take up a slot of your inventory.

"Hey Jordan..." Cupa says.

"Hm?"

"Skye was your ex-girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you two break up?"

I blow a puff of air out of my cheeks before starting to explain.

"On Earth, our continents are divided into countries, which are kind of like smaller continents. They generally have a person or group of people that sort of run the country." Cupa looks at me with an extremely interested expression on her face. "Well the country that Sky, Raphael, Jason, and I come from is divided even further into states. The state we come from is nowhere near the biggest, but still big enough to split two people apart." At that comment, Cupa's countenance changes to a sorrowful one, as if she already feels bad for me. "Initially Skye lived a ten-minute maximum trip away from me. A few months before I showed up here, her family moved. We'd originally lived in the northeast of our state. She moved southwest, to just about the middle, which just so happened to be one hundred twenty-six miles away. A mile on Earth is about sixteen hundred blocks here."

"That's so far!" Cupa says, the look on her face showing that she almost wants to cry.

"And that's just one mile." I pull out my phone to quickly do the math on the calculator. "The total distance was a little over two hundred thousand blocks."

"That's so sad!"

"Yeah, I was devastated when she had to leave. When the moving day came, I felt like I almost couldn't take it emotionally. It felt like my heart was being ripped out. And that wasn't even the first time I'd been in that exact situation and felt those exact emotions..." Over the time I'd been explaining, my voice had gradually changed from my usual loud, careless, and happy one to a more low and serious one. I could feel the same change in my facial expression.

"Not the first...?" I hear Cupa mumble.

I say nothing more. I just stand there in my thoughts, looking at the ground, until I feel a tight embrace from behind from Cupa that brings me back to my normal self.

"Is this another side of you I won't see much of?' Cupa asks, still holding onto me.

"Yeah..." I say, still in the low voice.

"Your breakup sounds like it hurt you both a lot."

I put a hand on one of Cupa's arms. "Never mind that. Because she's here with me now." I look up at the sky, her name coming to mind. Heh, 'sky, Skye'. As I look up and think of her, a small, content smile finds its way onto my face.


	23. Homecoming

**Chapter 23: Homecoming**

Cupa clings onto me tightly as we soar toward the house on Leon's back. If all goes well, we should be back home within the next few minutes.

"Jordan?" she asks.

"Yeah?"

"You said your breakup with Skye wasn't your first time in that situation..."

I offer no response. I clutch the left side of my chest as I feel a sharp pain shoot through my heart at the thought of her.

"Terra..." I say barely loud enough for even myself to hear and actually understand the word.

"Did you say something?"

"No, nothing. Like I said, that wasn't my first time going through that same situation. Maybe I'll tell you about it. But that, Cupa," I look back to her. "Is a story for another day."

* * *

**_(Third Person POV)_**

The human excavation team continues their work on the trench as the half-mob attack squad continues the assault on the dragon. Andr and Luna hit it with a barrage of melee attacks. Meanwhile, Ana and Neige bombard it with ranged attacks.

All of the attacks, however, are in futility. With a flick of its tail, Neige and Ana both end up on the ground. The dragon raises his gigantic foot above Ana, and she rolls out of the way just as he lowers it. He tries to swipe his mighty claw at Luna and Andr, but Luna is too fast and Andr simply warps out of the way.

The fight continues and it doesn't take long for Luna to eventually run herself into a trap, getting cornered by the beast. The dragon opens its big mouth once more, ready to suck Luna into its stomach. Luna digs her claws into the dirt, trying her best to stay grounded. None of the other mob girls' attacks do anything to divert the dragon's attention. Meanwhile, the team of digging humans, now almost done with the trench, are oblivious to just what's going on.

The dirt block begins to dislodge itself from the surrounding ground, and Luna grabs onto another just as it completely pops out. This one, however, almost immediately follows suit, beginning to rise out of the ground as well. Just as this one also finds its way out of the ground, an arrow shoots through the air, hitting the dragon in the side of his face and actually knocking him back, not to mention immediately stopping the vacuum phase of his attack.

"What the hell? How?" Skye says, having caught a glimpse of what was happening and started her ascent from the trench.

"Bullseye!" A prideful exclamation comes from the trees. The man presumably to the voice steps out not a second later, bow in hand, drawing another arrow. The head of the arrow is dripping with some dark, unfamiliar substance.

The man-dawning a black skull mask with six lines of two different colors painted on it-immediately fires the arrow at the dragon's head again, staggering it.

"You can't just hit it." The man says, running up with no explanation as to who he is or where he even came from. "You need something to aid your attack. A potion of harming for example." He says drawing another arrow, the head also soaked in the substance now known to be a harming potion.

"Good to know. Got any to spare?" Skye asks, equipping her bow.

"I think I've got a few." The masked man states, letting loose a ready arrow. "Just don't drop it; it's a splash potion."

"That's what I'm talking about." Skye says as he tosses her a bottle of the dark liquid.

The battle drags on, the entire group having relocated to the trench. Skye and the masked man carry out the attacks with their ultimate bows, and Raphael and Jason tend to Ana and Neige after being hit hard with the dragon's tail. Luckily, the two of them only suffered moderately minor injuries. Neither were hit with the spines on the tail. Neige seems to have a few broken ribs, but that's as far as the injuries go. She'd stripped out of her thick winter coat to be examined.

As the battle continues further, Neige looks over the top of the trench, noticing an object lying on the ground between the group and the dragon. Looking closer, it turns out to be Jordan's old dual-scabbard, the ultimate swords both still inside. He gave it to Skye when he got his new sword. The blast from one of the fireballs must have blown it out of the house.

Neige starts to climb the ladder to the surface. Every movement shoots pain through her chest.

"Neige, what are you doing? I don't think you should be moving too much." Raphael says, having noticed her ascending the ladder.

She offers no response, not able to find the strength to speak. She points to the scabbard desperately.

"You stay here; I'll get it." He says, reaching to pull her down from the ladder.

She waves him off almost angrily and finishes the few remaining steps up the ladder. Once on ground level, Neige shambles as fast as she can to the scabbard, ignoring the pain coursing throughout her body. She reaches the scabbard and scoops it up in her arms, not feeling the force pulling on her until it's too late.

Neige gets the scabbard strap around one arm before being lifted off of the ground. She unsheathes both swords and embeds them in the dirt block as far away as she can reach. Another arrow stops the sucking once more, but it doesn't stop for nearly as long. Neige manages to reach the trench, but, before she can get in it, she's being pulled again.

Neige grabs onto the edge of the dirt block at the top of the trench, holding on for dear life. Everyone in the trench tries desperately to keep hold of her hands as the vacuum pulls her away from them. Not much time passes before her hands slip from theirs and she's ripped away from them.

"Neige!" Skye screams, running to the nearest ladder.

At that moment, a large mass flies directly over the trench. A large gust of wind sweeps dust and debris into the trench, showering everyone inside in it. Whatever it was sped overhead in a quick blur of orange, not giving anyone nearly enough time to distinguish what it is.

When Skye reaches the surface, Neige is nowhere to be seen. A slightly distant roar catches her attention. This one is different than the black dragon's. Skye immediately spins around to the direction it came from to see an orange dragon flying low to the ground in the direction away from the house.

The dragon ascends into the air and does a u-turn. Skye starts to recognize it upon its approach. As it approaches, it flies low to the ground once more. Skye doesn't have much time to observe or register it before it's already passed her.

As she watches the orange dragon circle back around the house, a voice calls out to her that she's all too thankful to hear: "Looks like I'm a little late to the party."

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

"What the hell is this?" I say as we come up on the house. We took a little longer than I'd originally planned; I made a little pitstop where Jared was. Told him to head southeast to the house if he wanted to. Now that we're getting here, I see that was a good idea.

As we approach the house I see something-something _big_-seemingly wreaking havoc on it. The house itself looks devastated. I just hope everyone is safe. I know they can all handle themselves.

"Take the reins; I've gotta get down there." I say as I lean over to the side, maintaining a strong grip on Leon as not to fall off.

"Wait, what?!" Cupa asks in surprise.

"I've gotta get on the ground; you take control of Leon and get me down there."

"I don't know what to do!" she says nervously as she carefully climbs past me.

I scoot back as she does so. "I'll tell you what to do. Once I'm off, Leon can more or less handle himself."

"Why can't he just fly himself?"

"Do you really expect him to know exactly what I want him to do? Someone's gotta have the reins just in case, and I can only be in one place at a time." I look at the ground below. My vision isn't the best, but it's good enough to see someone bring pulled toward the monster by an invisible force. "Shit! Cupa, get us low and go fast!"

She manages to get Leon to fly about a block above the ground.

We shoot past the monster with a huge swoosh and I reach out. One chance is all I'll get. If I fuck up, I lose Neige. I reach out as far as I can without losing my balance on Leon's back.

"Come on," I say softly to myself. "Come on..."

We cross Neige and I act quickly, grabbing one of her arms with both hands. The weight jerks me back, damn near making me fall off of Leon. But somehow I managed to stay on while holding onto her. Now having a grip on her arm, I reach one hand to her other arm and pull in her close.

"I got her; slow us down or land completely!" I give a command to Cupa.

"Why?" she questions.

"You get off with Neige and take car of her. and I can take it from here."

"What happened to having me take over?"

"Didn't see this coming."

Cupa lands Leon away from the house and climbs off of his back, helping Neige off as well. One the two are both off, I immediately scoot forward and Leon takes flight again. I keep him low; I just need to get close to the house and get off.

As I reach the house again, I jump off of Leon's back, rolling as best as I can with my bum leg. I stand up and notice that I'm behind Skye, who just climbed out of a trench that wasn't there before. That explains why I didn't see anybody else; they're all in the trench.

"Looks like I'm a little late to the party." I state casually as I take out my bow and ready an arrow. I let it go and it shoots past Skye's face, blowing her hair with a small gust of wind.

Skye turns around at the sound of my voice. "J-Jordan..." I hear her voice shake slightly. She's probably just about ready to cry.

"We'll have our happy reunion later. Right now, fill me in on what's going on." I give a glance at the wyvern terrorizing the house.

"There's no point in just hitting it; it won't do anything."

I lower the arrow I had ready, but my bow away, and evoke Fang's two-handed form.

"I wouldn't recommend getting too close. That tail can do a good amount of damage. Neige and Ana were already hit. Neige has a broken rib or two, but Ana's fine aside from a little bit of pain."

"The dragon, Skye!" I remind her what exactly she's supposed to be informing me of.

The wyvern opens its mouth and a light starts to glow from within it. What the hell is this?

"It sucks up stuff up into its stomach-"

I grab Skye, cutting her off in the process. I pull her close to me, wrapping my arms around her and crossing them in front of her. I hold her tightly behind the golden, ethereal shield. A large fireball blasts into the shield, but I stand my ground hold it steady.

"And shoots them out as that." Skye finishes.

I slowly release Skye from my embrace. "This is gonna be a bitch to beat."

"The shield's new." Skye just now really examines me. "Jordan, your leg!"

"I'll survive." I say nonchalantly.

"Jordan, you're bleeding!"

Her words prompt me to look down at my "bandaged" leg, which I now notice the makeshift bandages on it are soaking up blood. I must've reopened the wound when I jumped off of Leon's back.

"'Tis but a flesh wound." I reply

"But J-"

"Jesus Christ, Skye, have some faith in me."

"Your leg should probably be tr-"

"Shhhh," I whisper to Skye, putting a finger to her lips. "Have faith."

Skye looks at me with a concerned face.

"We should get moving." I say as I start a poor hustle toward the trench that I'd assume had been recently dug. Skye comes up from behind me and assists, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and hers around my midsection.

"Thanks." I say as I rest some of my weight on her.

I hear my name exclaims in various surprised voices upon climbing into the trench.

"Yo." I say, inspecting the inhabitants of the trench. Ana, Andr, Raphael, Jason, Jared-still masked and hooded-and Luna. I see Cupa also managed to get Neige in safely. Plus me and Skye, that makes all of us.

"Good to see you're still alive." Raphael says as he gives me a pat on the shoulder.

"Is someone gonna comment on the fact that Raphael is the only fucker wearing armor...?" I ask as I look around at everyone.

"Don't worry about it..." he says.

That's my line, you motherfucker.

I approach Luna, who's currently being tended to by Jared. "I can take care of her; you and the others should pick the battle up."

"I was gonna use this on her. You can use it on the both of you and save me the trouble of brewing another later." Jared hands me a splash potion of regeneration.

I look at Neige, who holds a feeble hand out to me. I can see the pain written vividly on her face. i take her hand in mine and she reaches out with both arms. From what I can tell she either wants to hug me or for me to hug her. I wrap my arm around her back, careful not to squeeze her too hard and hurt her. She wraps her arms around me and I throw the bottle hard onto the ground. The splash of the potion envelopes us and I can feel the feeling returning to my leg as the gash heals itself.

Once the potion is done taking its effect, I kneel down and undo the makeshift bandages of Cupa's old hoodie. I roll up my bloody pant leg to see a long scar where thedeep wound had been.

Immediately upon standing up again, Neige jumps into my arms, wrapping hers around me tightly and crying into my shirt. "Master...I..." she sniffles. "I was so scared. Thank you! Thank you for saving me!" She says through tears.

I return her embrace for a moment, only to loosen it a bit when I feel a stare coming behind me. Most likely from Skye.

"Here." Neige says as she hands me my old dual scabbard. Which now belongs to Skye.

I accept the scabbard, let go of Neige and turn around. Ana approaches me right after.

"Why was I left out of that moment? I'm hurt too." The spider-girl pouts.

"Walk it off." I say, scruffing up her purple hair as I walk past her.

"Come on Skye." I turn to her.

Skye looks up at me, almost in surprise. "You're actually gonna let me do something? You won't hog the badassness and the limelight for yourself?"

"No promises." I say and toss her the scabbard with the ultimate swords sheathed in it. I turn to Jared, who's leaning on one of the trench walls with crossed arms. "You too, J."

He tilts his head a bit, a gesture that-with his mask on-is no different than cocking an eyebrow. He says nothing, but detaches himself from the wall and pulls out his ultimate bow, dipping an arrow into a splash potion of harming.

Skye unsheathes both ultimate swords, readying herself for the battle as well.

I evoke Fang in his two-handed form and raise him slightly, resting his long, red and black blade on my shoulder. I look at the two people I'd recruited just now. My usual troublemaker half-smile on my face. "We're gonna finish this fight."


	24. A Race of Two Dragons

**Chapter 24: A Race of Two Dragons**

The three of us head topside, all ready for hell. Jared immediately splits off from me and Skye, climbing up to what's left of the house's roof for a vantage point.

"So what's the plan?" Skye asks, lathering her swords with a potion of harming.

"To put it simply," I crack my neck. "Hit it 'til it dies." I say as I take off toward the wyvern.

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?!"

"It means see if you can keep up, newbie!" I let loose an energy blade at the beast's leg. It does visible damage, but nothing to really affect it. "Figured as much." I say to myself.

The wyvern raises its foot to stomp down on me, and I dodge it as it comes down. When it hits the ground, I waste no time in delivering rapid slashes to its ankle. The individual attacks deal bare minimum damage, but the number and speed of them wears the area down within seconds. The behemoth roars s loud that I can feel the sound waves hitting me.

In my peripheral vision, I see something moving, and fast! I turn my head quickly, and see the wyvern's tail lashing out toward me. In a split second, I summon the full-size shield. It absorbs most of the blow, preventing any damage to be done to me, but I'm still knocked onto my ass. Immediately after hitting the ground, I roll backwards and flip up back onto my feet, a move I use often.

I dash at the dragon, evoking Fang at his full size once more. This time I hold him with both hands. He swings his tail at me again, but I swiftly slide underneath it. I rise back to my feet smoothly without stopping my movement for even a second.

I jam Fang's blade into the dragon's other ankle, dragging it through its flesh as I run around the circumference of the the base of the leg. Almost immediately, I cross paths with Skye, who's following the same tactic as I. She'd apparently been just out of view on the other side of the leg. We only make eye contact for a split second, but I have no doubts as to what I saw. Her face had a clear expression of exhilaration plastered on it. Skye's work combined with mine cut both our loads by half.

I back away from the ankle, along with Skye. The wyvern swipes a claw at me, and I jump back to dodge it, colliding into Skye. We both fall to the ground, and, as we're getting up, take a powerful kick from the wyvern. The two of us are launched in separate directions, Skye going toward the house and me almost falling into trench. I recover quickly, but Skye is just a little too slow to stand up. The wyvern scoops her up in his clawed hands, raising her I rush toward them-teeth clenched in anger-my left hand clutching my aching abdomen and my right tightly clutching Fang's handle.

Before I can even swing the sword, an arrow is embedded-from what I can tell-directly between the dragon's eyes. He throws Skye in a random direction, luckily ending up throwing her into the second floor of the house. I look up to Jared on the roof, who's stance tells that he just finished that amazing shot. The dragon reaches for its face and lets loose another roar in pain. I stop in my tracks and quickly cover my ears as the noise quakes the area. Even through my covered ears, the roar carries a high volume, irritating my ear drums.

I continue my sprint towards the wyvern, Fang's blade trailing behind me. The two-legged dragon swings its barbed tail at me once more. I dig Fang's blade into the dirt, using the leverage to spring off of the ground. I vault over the spiked tail, flipping through the air as I do so. I cleanly avoid any contact whatsoever, but Fang is sent flying into the distance. I stick the landing, putting a hand on the ground as well as my feet to come to a stop faster. I uproot some grass as my feet skid across the dirt, gaining traction for me to slow down. This time upon getting back up, the tail swings back at me. Good. I stand in place, waiting for the tail to hit me. Once it gets close enough, I jump into the air, grabbing onto the long dorsal spines as the tail slams full-force into me. The impact knocks the wind out of me, but I make sure my tight grip doesn't falter.

* * *

_**(Skye's POV)**_

I fly into the house, hitting the wall at the back of my room. The powerful blow to my back knocks the wind out of me. I can't muster up a single ounce of oxygen in my lungs for a few seconds. I clutch my chest and heave heavily, doing my best to regain my breath. I stand up, clutching my side, which is aching from the dragon's kick a minute ago. Jordan took a good amount of the blow for me, having been in front of me when it happened. The bastard probably even saved my life by just accidentally being in front of me.

I get no time to recover, however. Upon standing up, the dragon snaps its jaws at me, trying its best to reach far enough into the room to get me. I quickly look in the direction of the door. Through the small windows I can see wooden plank blocks-that used to make up a wall outside the room-scattered and piled up in front of it. The explosion with Raphael earlier must've blown these blocks here, sealing off my only exit. I can fell my heart racing and unorganized thoughts scattered all over the place. I try to think of a way out, but-given the circumstances-I can't bring my thoughts together. So this is how Raphael must have felt.

The dragon backs up, but only for a second. Right after, it reaches into with its long arm, thrusting it in my direction. I duck under it and quickly crawl away to another wall. There's nothing I can do! I can't mine away the door and the stuff blocking me in; I don't have any tools, or even my ultimate swords, on me. Even if I did, I wouldn't be able to do the job, given the aching in my midsection.

"Skye!" A voice calls out to me. It's the masked man on the roof! His voice is extremely familiar, but I can't manage to put my finger on the source of its familiarity. "Catch!" he says, dropping a knapsack down to me. I grab it before it hits the ground, realizing how good it is that I did catch it. Inside the bag is a plethora of potions, both splash and ingested. I realize the potential of what I can do, and a grin crosses my lips.

I dodge another grasp from the claw. I pull a splash potion of harming from the satchel and chuck it at the dragon, pitching it as best I can at its face. It makes contact and the dragon immediately lurches back violently. reaching for its eyes with both hands. I then quickly grab a potion of healing and chug it down, relieving my pain immediately.

The dragon lets out another of its powerful roars before lashing out again to grab me. This time, its arm moves in fast, aggravated motions. I duck and dive under each and every of them with ease. Whenever I can, I lob a potion at it, hitting in assorted spots. I don't know what a good amount of these are, so I don't know exactly what to throw. But I do know what'd be beneficial to it, so I know what _not_ to throw at the least.

"Bottoms up!" I say as I gulp down a potion of swiftness. The dragon reaches for me again. This time I use the actual hand itself to vault over it, avoiding the attack-and in a rather badass way, if I do say so myself. Once I hit the ground, I pull another splash potion of harming from the satchel. From the looks of it, it's the last one. I fling the potion at the dragon, hitting the side of its face. It retracts its arm again, giving me some time.

I root around the satchel for something that looks like it'd have a negative effect. I quickly find two splash potions: one dark gray and the other a lighter, blueish gray. I lean back, avoiding another potential capture, and smash the light gray potion onto the arm. The dragon moves it around the room more sluggishly now.

"I guess that helped, sorta." I say to myself.

I follow up with the dark gray potion, smashing the glass bottle onto the arm. Other than the particles floating up from it, it doesn't seem to have any effect.

"Well that was useful."

I look down at the broken bottle in my hand, now realizing the weapon I'm currently holding. My eyes widen a little before narrowing again as I realize what I can now do. I jam the bottle into the scaly arm. It, unexpectedly, goes through with ease! The dragon roars in pain. And _now_ is when I realize what that potion did. The bottle is buried neck-deep in the dragon's flesh. I cant pull it out. I duck under a horizontal swing and grab what's left of the other bottle off of the ground, inspecting the edge. This bottle broke primarily on one side, leaving a long, jagged edge. A sort of glass dagger.

I slash at the arm over and over, delivering quick, rapid cuts to it. It doesn't take long to coat the arm in blood. It also, however, doesn't take long for the fragile glass blade to snap, leaving me with little more than the neck of the bottle.

"Shit!' I say as I bury what's left of the bottle into the dragon. I then flip over the arm again and go searching through the satchel once more. I fail to find a potion in time, though. This time, the dragon succeeds in grabbing me. I manage to keep a hold of the satchel, but can't manage to pry open the iron grip of the dragon. It brings me up to its mouth and opens it, ready to stuff me into it. All the while, I'm putting up my best effort to escape its grip. It 's proven to be a futile struggle, though, as I haven't made any clear progress at getting out.

Just as I'm about to end up in the dragon's mouth, I hear a loud, gross-sounding slash and a screech-yes, a screech-of pain coming from the dragon before dropping to the floor of the room. The hand immediately loses its unbreakable grip around me, falling limply to the ground. It only takes a second to notice that the hand-the entire forearm-of the dragon has been_ cut off! _

I scuttle away from the severed limb just in time to avoid getting showered in a spray of blood, which splatters all over the ground from the stump that used to be the dragon's arm. I look up to see a sight for sore eyes. Hanging onto one of the dragon's horns with one hand is Jordan, his sword-that presumably just saved me-in his other hand. Clenched in his teeth is one more sword: one of my ultimate ones.

"Skye!" he calls out to me through his clenched teeth as his sword dematerializes, and he grabs the one in said teeth. He flings the sword to me, purposely aiming for the ground in front of me rather than actually aiming at me.

The ultimate sword slides to a stop at my feet, and I grab it and stand up. With its only remaining arm, the dragon swings downward at me, now trying to bash me rather than to grab me. I jump to the side, avoiding the attack with ease. I jump up onto the arm of the dragon, barely managing to find a foothold. The dragon quickly raises its arm toward itself, probably trying to throw me. I use that momentum as a boost and I jump forward with all my might.

I collide into the shoulder of the dragon, burying the blade of my ultimate sword into it completely. This elicits another roar of pain from the dragon. I clutch onto the handle of the sword as tightly as I can with both hands, hanging on for dear life as the dragon jerks back violently. Just as I lose my grip, unable to hold on any longer, a hand firmly grasps my forearm.

I look up to see Jordan's face, exhausted and desperate.

"I'm not losing you, Skye. Not today, not ever."

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

I pull Skye up onto the back of the wyvern's neck. Very unstable footing, but it was as far down as I could get without falling off. Once I have her completely onmy level, I bring her into my embrace and hold her tightly. The moment doesn't last long however. Within a single second, the wyvern violently shakes the two of us off, sending us hurtling through the air. I shut my eyes and hold Skye tightly in my arms as we fall, up until we hit something with loud _SPLASH!_ I open my eyes to see we're in water. We both swim to the surface to get oxygen as fast as possibly. Okay, "swim" may be a bit of an overstatement. It took no more than a push off of the bottom of the water source. We'd landed in the infinite water source I'd created before I went into the Nether that one time. This water source was what we'd use to bathe-we'd use buckets to get rid of the old water and put in fresh water after each use-before I got around to putting in the bathroom furnishings. After the trip to the Nether, this became obsolete-considering that the river the house was built next to is an infinite supply of fresh water-and I'd considered filling it up with dirt. Now I see that leaving it was the right choice.

"Stop fucking saving me, you bitch!" Skye says and punches me.

"You know, generally speaking, the savior gets a 'Thank you' in these situations." I retort.

"I can handle myself; I'm a badass!"

"Whatever you say, Skye." I say as the two of us climb out of the two-block-deep pool of water. She didn't even notice the laceration in my side, or the water turning red. I secretly clutch my wound as we walk, her ahead of me.

Just as we start to approach it, the wyvern stumbles to the ground, unable to stand. A closer look reveals several arrows lodged in its right ankle, right along the cut I'd made.

"That makes this a whole lot easier." Skye says confidently.

Just as she finishes that sentence, the wyvern does something I should've expected, but didn't. It flaps its large wings, and takes to the sky.

"Motherfucker!" Skye exclaims. "We won't be able to hit that with our bows. You and the skull guy may be good shots, but that isn't happening." Skye still hasn't turned to face me, and still hasn't noticed my wounded state.

I see the wyvern taking a particular interest in the trench, hovering over it. I see what's happening when I notice the light shining from its open mouth.

"EVERYBODY OUT OF THE TRENCH!" I shout at the top of my lungs.

Everyone obeys though, quickly piling out of the trench. Not even a moment after the last person gets out, a fireball shoots straight down, right into the trench, obliterating anything that may have been in it.

"What are we gonna do now?" Skye asks, still not looking at me.

"Don't worry, I got this." I put my fingers into my mouth and blow a loud wolf whistle. A few seconds later, Leon descends from the sky, landing between me and Skye, Well timed to; Skye had just turned in my direction.

"God dammit." Skye says as I climb onto Leon's back, moving sluggishly due to my wound and soaking wet clothing.

"What?" I ask.

"There's blood on my purple tank top!" she whines. "I could've sworn nothing from the arm got on me."

It must be from me, from when I was holding her.

"It'll come out." I say just as Leon takes off.

Leon speeds after the dragon. Its multitude of wounds impair its flying, so catching up to it wasn't a problem. A trail of blood follows behind it, running freely from its stump. Blood also seeps from my open wound, which I'm keeping a hand on, applying as much pressure to it as I can at the moment.

The wyvern catches us by surprise by pulling a sudden, sharp u-turn, heading straight back toward the house. His speed, however, doesn't pale in comparison to Leon's. Within mere seconds, we've caught up with him again, In another few seconds, we're ahead of him. I let go of my wound, wincing sharply at the wind blowing sharply through it. With my free hand, I evoke Fang in his full size, letting loose a few slashes at the enemy dragon. The energy blades knock it off course, and it blindly rams into us. I won't get another opportunity like this. I'll have passed out and fallen to my death before this happens again.

I let go of Leon and, in a ballsy move, jump from his back onto the wyvern's. I'm careful to avoid hitting the dorsal spines, while also grabbing hold of one at the base of his neck. The wyvern spins out of control, doing a series of "barrel"-or better said, aileron-rolls, possibly in attempt to shake me off. I hang on tightly, though. Like hell I'm gonna die after getting this far! Once the wyvern's flight has somewhat stabilized, I jam Fang into its neck. He pierces easily and cleanly. A spurt of blood sprays from the dragon's neck, and,just like the ghast in the Nether, the wyvern immediately stops flying and starts falling.

We spiral into a nosedive headed straight for the ground.I brace myself to the highest degree possible for what's coming. The impact hits hard, sending me flying limply off of the wyvern's back as it skids across the grass. I tumble across the ground like a ragdoll, taking various amounts of damage, before coming to an eventual halt.

I did it.

"JORDAN!" I hear Skye scream, terrified for me.

I somehow manage to muster up the strength to rise to my feet. I hold a weak standing position and give an equally feeble thumbs-up. This stance lasts for no longer than a few seconds, however, as I quickly find myself falling to my knees, my vision blurring together. I can't see much, but I hear a multitude of footsteps rushing to my position.

"Jordan! Oh my God, you're hurt! This looks serious!" Though I know Skye's right next to me, her voice sounds distant and echoes in my head.

"No..." I manage to get out, heaving heavily. "I...I'm fi..." I don't get anything else out. At this moment I fall from my knees onto my face, blacking out completely.


	25. Aftermath

_**Do the both of us a favor and read the author's note at the bottom when you're done. Also, enjoy :D**_

* * *

**Chapter 25: Aftermath**

_**(Third Person POV)**_

"Motherfucker!" Shawn says angrily as he pounds his fists on the desk in front of him. He stands up abruptly from his office chair, sending it rolling away behind him. As it rolls, it quickly disperses into a black wisp of smoke. "This one didn't kill him either?!" He puts his hands on and leans over the desk that he's standing behind. In front of his face is an ethereal viewing screen, which allows him to see into the mortal plane from where he currently is. Displayed on it is Jordan falling through the air on the back of the wyvern that should've been his downfall.

"The boy is resilient, I'll give him that. He may prove a greater challenge than I originally anticipated." says a voice with no visible source.

"Nah, that's bullshit. I know I can put an end to him. I just need to find something that'll effectively put him out of commission." Shawn replies, still peering into the window to the mortal plane.

"Perhaps you can, but you shouldn't ignore his abilities. We've thrown three challenges at him, yet he still stands strong. To underestimate a man of this potential could be your downfall."

On the screen, Jordan falls from his knees to the ground, covered in dirt and blood.

"He's lost a lot of blood. Maybe he actually is dead now."

"Doubted. He is in contact with the other two. He's essential to them. I have no doubts that the duo is keeping the kid's heart beating."

The screen in front of Shawn disappears, shrinking until nothing is left.

"Well?" Shawn asks his partner's voice.

"What do you mean, 'Well?'"

"Cut the shit, Herobrine. You haven't dismissed me, so I know there's something more to why you brought me here that...than _that!_" Shawn gestures to where the vieweing screen was a second ago, referring to what he was just shown.

"You're a sharp kid, but that mouth will get you into trouble. Don't forget just where you are or whom it is you're speaking to." the voice booms. Oddly enough, that line wasn't delivered angrily, as one would presume.

Shawn walks around to the front of the desk and takes a seat on it. "Whatever. I think we both want to just get down to business. I'm sure we'd both rather I be out there taking action."

"And what exactly do you intend to do? Tell me, human, just _what_ is your plan for when I let you go?"

"I...I'll find something! Shut up!" Shawn retorts.

"As I said, you are indeed a sharp kid. You're smart, but you have a plethora of fatal flaws. That mouth, for example."

Shawn scoffs.

"And that attitude. And your extreme haste that you just displayed, trying to rush into anything that may be in front of you, despite not having any idea what you may be against or what actions you'll even take. The worst-and dealiest-of them all, however, would have to be your arrogance."

"Yeah, whatever. Down to business: why am I still here?" Shawn hops off of the desk and leans against it, crossing his arms.

"I had no intention of revealing my physical form to you, but this matter seems better discussed face-to-face."

"We're supposed to be working together, and yet you still planned on keeping secrets from me? I'm hurt!" Shawn mockingly grabs his chest.

Small embers appear out of thin air and start to swarm together, creating the outline of a tall figure, roughly six feet in height. The embers disperse to reveal a tall. demonic figure. The figure has the general body of a goat, except bipedal. Its glowing eyes are completely white and its arms are punctuated with sharp claws. Protruding from its backside is a long, forked tail as well as two large, bat-like wings from its upper back.

"Is that the Jersey Devil?"

"I can choose any form I want to appear in. This one appealed to me."

"I don't care. Can we talk business now?"

"As I stated before," Herobrine starts, opening up another viewing screen, displaying what's currently happening on it. "The boy may be a more difficult opponent than I'd anticipated him to be."

On the screen, Skye cries as she clutches Jordan's body. She desperately talks to him, trying her best to put pressure onto his still-open wound, which is still seeping blood. The blood's flowing has slowed, though that may not be an entirely good thing. The group-both human and half-human-crowds around her, all in concern of their unofficial leader.

"I'm sure we can hit him hard enough to get him on the ground and keep him there. How're you doing on power?"

"Not well. The dragon took a good amount of my energy to create. Manipulating the aliens last night left me without my full power. On top of all of that, It's harder to tamper with a different material plane than it would be to summon something here. You do realize there _are_ limits to what I can do, no?"

"How long will it be 'til you're charged up again?"

"It'll take a few days."

Shawn looks toward the ground, pondering on the current situation.

"But," Herobrine breaks the silence. "When the time comes, I think I have a way to break the boy."

Shawn looks up cocks an eyebrow at the comment. "You said he's a force to be reckoned with. So how exactly do you plan on getting to him?"

Herobrine reaches up and points to the screen next to him. He rest a sharp claw on Skye.

"Her."

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

All I see is darkness. My entire body is cold. I can't move a muscle. I'd swear I was dead, if it weren't for the sound of my own beating heart. The only sound I can hear. Suddenly, pain! My entire body begins to ache, as if by the flick of a switch! My eyes snap open and I try to let out a scream from the abrupt, astronomically high level of pain. But nothing comes out of my mouth. "Fuck!" I want to exclaim, but not a sound.

I feel myself slowly moving, but it doesn't really feel like I'm going anywhere. It's like I'm on a raft, floating down an eternally stretching river. I lie on my back, the excruciating pain keeping me from moving even a muscle. I stare up at nothing. The "sky"-and everything-is pitch black. I can't see anything, but not because it's dark; there's nothing _to_ see. Just like the Gateway from when I first came here. But it doesn't feel the same here as it did in the Gateway. It feels...eerily empty. Morbid. Extremely foreboding. I don't really know how to describe this place. All I can say is that it definitely doesn't feel right. Despite it being completely desolate, it feels like there's something big here that I'm missing.

In an instant, the pain coursing through me is alleviated, disappearing completely. I slowly rise to my feet, with some difficulty. Though I now may not be in pain, my body's experiencing serious fatigue. I have an extreme lack of energy. I have trouble just staying upright. I fall to one knee, heaving heavier than I probably should be. I look up at the "sky" once more.

"No," a voice says, seemingly in my head. This voice is new, completely different from Notch's, Jeb's, or Herobrine's from what I remember of it two months ago. "It is not time yet."

"Time? Time for what?" I ask, now able to speak.

"For you."

"What? What the hell does that mean?!" I demand, but get no reply.

Before I can say or do anything else, a wave of pain rushes across my head, and I fall to all fours from it.

"Agh, fuck!" I fall to my side, clenching my head in anguish. I shut my eyes tight as I clench the sides of my head.

* * *

I sit up straight, and extremely fast. Not only does my head collide with something, but I get an extreme head rush.

"Okay, bad idea." I say, my eyes closed and my hands on my woozy head. I open my eyes to see everyone circled around me. Everyone has a face of relief; some of the girls even have tears in their eyes. Skye is most notable. She's practically crying, and one thing I also noticed was her hand going from her jaw to cover her mouth. That explains what I hit when I sat up. "What'd I miss?" I joke.

"Jordan!" Skye exclaims as she wraps her arms around me tightly, both bring me in close and causing the two of us to fall completely on the ground.

After a moment of mixed surprise and confusion, a gentle smile finds its way onto my face and I return the embrace. I can hear her crying as I do so. That's right, the fight with the wyvern went down.

"Jordan..." Skye says as she pulls away from me. I wipe the tears off of her face as I look into her eyes. She comes in close again, this time pressing her lips against mine in a passionate kiss. The kiss lasts a little longer than we would usually go, but seems about right given the circumstances. Eventually, the need for oxygen causes her to pull away. "That was because I missed you." she says.

I see a movement just barely in my field of vision. By the time I process it as Skye reaching back with her hand, she's already socked me-probably as hard as she could-in the jaw. "That was for leaving me, along with your little tender moment in the pit with Neige."

"That's fair." I say, rubbing my jaw. It didn't really hurt much, but making it look like it did would make Skye feel better. In me peripheral vision, I see Neige turn away, probably embarrassed. For her sake, I pretend not to notice. I'd rather have Skye mad at me-I'm used to it-than Neige, especially when she didn't do anything wrong. Was It really that "tender" of a moment? I didn't really think about what I was doing then; I just kind of did it.

Skye presses our lips together again, in an equally long and somehow even more passionate kiss. After pulling away, she buries her face in my shirt, not saying anything

"And that one?" I ask, sitting up with her maintaining her position on my chest.

"That one was because I...I..." Skye starts to break down in tears, unable to even finish her sentence.

I wrap my arms around her again. "I know, Skye. I love you too." I finish it for her as she cries onto me.

With Skye's body pressed against mine, I notice that the two of us are both wet from head to toe. I forgot, we fell into the water during that battle. I look down and the ground under me wet and red. Oh yeah, I was bleeding. I bled out a lot during that fight. I don't really know how I'm still here, but I can only assume it was _those_ two. I'll have to thank them later, for both myself and for Cupa.

I rise to my feet, separating myself from Skye, and pull up the hem of my tank top. I see a long, diagonal scar stretching across my lower abdomen, starting at my left side and running about two-thirds of the way to my right. I should get this cleaned up.

"Since most of us-myself included-probably didn't really see it, how'd that happen?" Jared asks, his voice slightly muffled behind his mask.

I wring the excess water out my wet tank top-which I'd taken off-and use it as a rag-or washcloth, to some-to wipe the remaining blood and dirt off of my body. I stay kneeling at the side of the river.

"Climbing. The dragon was blocking the front door, so I was making my way up its back to get to Skye. I was doing a pretty good job at not stabbing myself on the spines. That is, up until I about halfway up. It jerked back erratically; cut me pretty bad. It was a deep one." I submerge the tank again, dragging it through the water and rubbing parts of it together to clean it off, before bringing it back up and wringing it out again. I then press it onto my face, scrubbing away the grime from both yesterday and today.  
I wring the tank out one last time, this time as much as possible, before standing up and slinging it over my shoulder as I turn around. One thing I see is Skye covering her mouth again, tears brimming in her eyes.

"What's the matter?" I ask her.

"I..." she chokes out. "I did that..."

"What?" Jared and I say in surprise.

"I hit the dragon; I made it jerk back! I-I'm the one that did that to you!" she says as she buries her teary face in her hands.

I remain silent as I stand there and look at her. Again in my peripherals, I see Neige look at Skye, then me. From what I can tell a look of concern lies in her eye, the concern most likely not for me, but for what I may do in reaction to Skye's statement.

I continue to stand there, maintaining my blank expression with my eyebrows furrowed, before eventually approaching my girlfriend slowly.

I grab her hands and pull them down to her sides. Without warning, I pull her into a hug. I run a hand through her hair, which had grown long in the time we'd been here. I continue to hold her in my embrace, feeling her long, black hair. For some reason I've always liked the feel of her hair.

"You know," I start. "You should really do something about this." I lift a handful of her hair and look at it before letting it fall to her back once more.

Skye pulls away from me, a small smile on her face.

"And you this." she puts a hand on my balbo 'stache.

"Not in a million years." I smile back at her.

Skye presses herself against me again and I laugh lightheartedly as I hold her in my arms.

* * *

_**(Third Person POV)**_

Skye pulls her purple shorts up around her waist, pulls up the zipper, fastens the button. Jordan had made a small shed-like structure for the two of them to change out of our wet clothes in. He went in first and had gotten done pretty quickly. Now everyone's just waiting on her.

"I'm the one who hurt Jordan. I almost got him killed while he was trying to save me. What if he really did die? What would I do then, knowing that I was the cause?"

As she pulls her black tank top over her head, the events of the last forty-five or so minutes replay in her head, specifically the end of the battle.

* * *

_The dragon's dead body crashes to the ground, kicking up dirt as it skids across the grass blocks. Jordan is launched off of its back, hurtling limply through the air like a ragdoll, before hitting the ground. The landing isn't any better than the launch, however. His body tumbles across the ground, bounces countless times and getting more and more covered in dirt and his own blood with every short collision. He eventually comes to a hard stop, sliding a few final feet across the grassy ground before halting completely and lying there with not the faintest sign of life._

_"JORDAN!" Skye screams at the top of her lungs as she rushes to reach her boyfriend's side._

_Moments later he rises. With all of his remaining strength, he manages to give a weak thumbs-up. _

_Skye expresses her concern for the seriousness of his injury, but he only responds with a faint, "I'm fine." that he doesn't even end up finishing._

_Momentarily, he falls to his knees, then his face, and remains still there as blood seeps out from his open wound._

_Skye screams his name over and over again as she sits on the ground, holding his lifeless body in her arms._

_Everyone else in the group crowded around as it happened. The group looks at the scene with wide eyes and gaping mouth. The majority of them are on the verge of tears, given that they aren't already crying like Skye._

_"You'll be fine. Everything'll be okay." she says to him repeatedly as she cries, rocking him back and forth in her arms. "He's not breathing!" she screams through her tears._

_Jared rushes to the side of his friend. "He's lost a fatal amount of blood; I don't think it's possible for him to come out of this alive! There's nothing we can do!" _

_Skye looks up at him with a face sadder than anything he'd ever seen in his life. It breaks even his heart seeing her pitiful face in that moment._

_"There has to be something we can do to save him!" Neige speaks up, also in tears._

_"Neige is right! We can't just sit back and let him die!" Cupa says._

_"He's saved a handful of our asses on multiple occasions, and probably all of ours just a minute ago!" Ana adds._

_In the background, Raphael recaps what went down in the Nether before Blazette made off with Jordan. How Jason was sitting injured and became a sitting duck, and how Jordan saved him._

_"No, "There is something." Raphael takes out his bow It'll stop the bleeding but there's no guarantee he'll actually survive, given how much blood he's lost already. Medically speaking, he shouldn't. The skull over there is right; he's lost a fatal amount of blood, but if there's anything we can do to at least try to keep him alive, I say we do it."_

_"What do you have in mind?" Andr asks._

_Raphael responds by taking out Skye's ultimate bow, which he'd grabbed from the trench to prevent it from annihilation. He readies an arrow and points it at Jordan. Just as he's letting go, a snowball collides with his hand, sending the arrow flying off course. _

_"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Skye says as she turns Jordan's body away from him and her back towards him._

_In his peripheral vision, he sees the various mob girls, all of which in states of hostility, ready to attack him. _

_"Are you trying to kill him?!" In an instant Luna's at his throat, her sharp claws pressing against the flesh ready to pierce through._

_"No," Jared speaks up as he lets an arrow loose also aimed at Jordan. He'd forgotten about that feature of the ultimate bow: it heals other players-or in this case, other humans-when you shoot them. "He's got the right idea." _

_As he releases a second arrow, Luna charges from Raphael to him nearly instantaneously. His speed matches hers, however, and he grabs her and performs a defensive takedown on her. One thing that the group-with the exception of Jordan-is unaware of is Jared's several years of training in various styles of martial arts. Jordan was the one who urged him to learn in the first place. Andr lunges at him as well and he dispatches her just as swiftly, easily, and cleanly. _

_Neither of the two are actually hurt in the process. He respects Jordan more-and is just wiser-than to harm anyone close to his heart. He knows well enough of the raw power that can be invoked from within his African American friend. He'd seen it years ago when they were younger. The event that caused him to see Jordan's fighting potential was actually the very one that made Jordan suggest him taking martial arts. From that moment on, Jared took training in various forms of martial arts and with various weapons, subjecting him to sparring matches with Jordan. Due to Jordan's innate ability to take in as just as much as-if not more than-what he can dish out, the fights always ended in a stalemate with both of the two _

_Just then, something diverts everyone's attention. A noise paired with a motion. In Skye's arms, Jordan groans and stirs. The girls immediately cool down, and almost _break_ down. Everyone watches him in an eerie silence, nobody either able to find the words to say or in too emotional of a state to speak at all. The guys have looks of hope and relief on their faces and the girls have tears in their eyes as he quickly sits up, as in someone flicked his "on" switch._

* * *

As Skye steps out of the hut, she overhears the conversation at hand, causing her to quietly stop and listen.

"In all seriousness, you shouldn't be here." Jared says.

"Yeah, I know. I don't really know why I'm alive, but I know that I definitely shouldn't be." Jordan says. His voice is deeper and less lighthearted than usual, showing the seriousness of the topic.

"How does it feel?" Jared asks.

"What do you mean?" Jordan retains his serious tone.

"Multiple things, really. First, how does it feel knowing that you shouldn't be standing here with us?'

"it's...it's really something; a lot of things. Opens my eyes a little bit. Makes me value every moment I and how I choose to spend it, 'cause life can take a sharp turn on you at any point in time and, if you're not ready, you may just get run over. It makes you realize just how small your individual life is compared to the entirety of the world. It makes you wonder just how much your life actually matters among everyone else's."

"And how does it feel knowing exactly whose actions resulted in it?"

"It's really complicated. I don't blame Skye if that's what you're asking. I know she'd never intend to truly hurt me. As violent to me as she may be to me on a daily basis, she'd never cause actual harm to me; she isn't that kind of person. I know she can't live without me, and the same goes for the other way around. I think she just has an interesting way of showing it. Despite this, it's really weird thinking 'My girlfriend almost killed me.' Especially given the truth to the statement in this context. I find it easier to look at how it might've affected her rather than how it affects me, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I couldn't care less what happens to me, so long as Skye makes it through. If I did die-at her hand, no less-it would seriously fuck her up. I don't think she'd be able to live with herself. She'd probably blame herself. She'd probably sink into some serious depression over something that she didn't even mean to do. It might even drive her to thoughts of suicide."

A moment of silence lingers in the air and Skye covers her mouth with both hands as tears well up in her eyes and roll down her face.

"I...I know what it's like," Jordan continues. "What it's like for someone to do because of my actions. I didn't directly kill her, but she died to save me. The worst part...the worst part is how avoidable it was. I was ignorant. I wanted to protect her, and yet my actions drove her to give her life to save mine. I know all the pain of watching someone die, of holding them in my arms as the life drains from their eyes. And even more, I know the guilt. It burdened me heavily-hell, it still does! But I managed. Somehow...I managed to find the motivation to keep going. I know she isn't as strong as I am emotionally. I know she might not be able to find that strength to push forward. And, even if I'm not alive to see it, that suffering isn't something I want her to have to experience. Given all that, I don't think I _can_ die just yet, for her sake."

Skye stifles the sounds of her crying as she slides down the wall of the hut until she hits the ground. She never realized how deeply Jordan felt about her, how much he cared. She never knew that he valued her life more than his own. The thing that hits her the hardest is that she almost got rid of this, someone who cares this deeply about her and probably do anything in his power to keep a smile on her face. She can't even fathom how she never realized the depth of his feelings before. So she sits there, up against the hut, and cries to her heart's content.

* * *

_**Once again, sorry it took so long to get this out. I've been really preoccupied and have had an extreme lack of motivation to get any type of work done. I also feel like I need to state this explicitly: Yes, I do take requests for OCs for this story. If you want to submit a request, do NOT-I repeat, do NOT-send it via a review. If you want me to add an OC into the story send me a detailed bio of them IN A PM. From this point (September 27th, 2015) forward, every and any OC request sent in a review will be ignored completely and immediately without consideration. I know it may be a lot quicker and easier to send them in a review, but, for the sake of your OCs, please do it in a PM. I will also be putting this note on chapter 1, so that any newcomers who don't make it this far before thinking about sending an OC request will know where to send it as well.  
A few more things:  
1\. A shout-out to Thamiir Davis, a follower of A New World (and myself if I remember correctly) and the creator of the masked man you know as Jared. Sorry this came so late, Thamiir. I forgot to put it in when I actually added Jared, but hey, better late than never, right? :D  
2\. For those of you who want a full-on, legitimate harem, I have news for you. I, sadly, will not be able to incorporate that into the story. That was the plan when I started writing this story, but, upon the introduction of Skye, this goal became significantly more difficult and was scrapped soon after. I apologize for the inconvenience and hope that there's still enough for you to enjoy.  
3\. Hopefully the identity of the traitor was easy for you all to guess, but if you haven't already I encourage you to go over the chapter(s) necessary to find it. Concealing his/her identity from you guys wasn't really my priority when I added that in. All I wanted to establish was that there's a traitor in the group.**_


	26. Into the Pit

_**Roughly 5,500 words. A bit longer of a chapter.**_

**Chapter 26: Into the Pit**

**_(Third Person POV)_**

Jordan slashes his sword at a block of obsidian, shooting an energy blade that slices clean through it. He rests the blade in my shoulder and looks over Jared.

"Well?" he says.

"Amazing!" I've never seen anything like it!" Jared remarks in awe.

"Capable of cutting through just about anything, whether it be the energy or physical blade."

"I see! Can I see it?"

Jordan hands Jared the sword and he inspects it closely, his eyes resembling, in marvel, that of a kid going to the zoo for the first time.

"Handle him with care." Jordan instructs as Jared slashes at a wooden plank on what's left of the house. His slash, however, doesn't emit an energy blade.

"Okay, let me try a normal strike then."

He swings the sword at the block and, upon contact, the edge of the blade cuts stuck about an inch into the wood.

"What the hell?!" he shouts in frustration.

"Step back, rookie. Let the pro show you how it's done." Jordan grabs the handle and pulls the blade out of the wooden plank.

Jordan slices quickly through the block multiple times. So fast that it was easy to miss when he actually cut the block. He rests the sword's blade on his shoulder once more and stands up straight as the cubic block of wood falls apart into multiple smaller versions of itself.

"But...how?!" Jared asks in disbelief.

"Either you've got it or you don't."

"Got what?!"

"It."

Just as he finished that sentence, Skye comes out from behind the hut she was changing it. Both she and Jordan "changed" into the same clothes they were wearing, with the addition of he'd an throwing on his glasses and black and red Brotherhood of Steel hoodie. They'd just took them off and put them in a closet block to dry them.

Anything that was made to be worn in one way or another can be completely cleaned, dried, and/or folded if put into a closet. They, however, do not repair clothing.

"Took you long enough." Jordan says, turning in her direction. "Question: where are the animals?" he asks.

"Oh yeah," Skye says, looking around. "Now that you mention it, I didn't notice any in the house before or during the attack."

Jordan looks toward the various empty animal pens. "They wouldn't just get up and walk out. They wouldn't even have anywhere."

"Don't animals have, like, a sixth sense for danger and shit?" Raphael starts. "They might've left beforehand to escape."

"Hm." Jordan says. "Let's hope so. In the meantime, Skye, can you start taking that hut down?" he says as he tossed her his ultimate axe.

"Yeah, I got it." she says as she turns to the small, wood structure and starts demolishing it.

Jordan turns back to Jared.

"You coming with us or no?" he asks, arms crossed.

"Nah, I'll do my own thing for a while. When the time's right, maybe. But until then, I'll just stay a loner."

"A'ight. Well, when you come around, you know where we are-or will be." he says the last part quietly so the others don't hear.

The two firmly grasp the other's forearm, exchanging a "gladiator handshake" as the two of them call it. Each gives the other a slight, downward nod before letting go.

Cupa sheepishly walks up to Jared, her eyes directed toward the ground. She stands there for a second or two before quickly hugging him, holding him in a second-long embrace.

"Thank you for fixing up Jordan..." she says quietly.

Jordan puts a caring hand on her head on smiles down at her.

"See ya, man." Jordan says, crossing his arms again and leaning on the remnants of the house, one foot planted on the ground and the other on the side of the house.

"It hasn't been long, but it sure has been fun. I'll catch you later." Jared says, slinging his single-strap bag over his shoulder and pulling up his hood.

Jordan gives a two-finger salute to the masked man and, as he walks away, he returns it.

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

After Jared leaves, I help Skye tear down what of the hut she didn't already get to. I'd climbed up to the roof and started my work there.

"Jordan," she calls up to me. "What'll we do about the house?"

I slide off of the edge of the roof and look at the house lying in ruin.

"We-we could rebuild! Right?! We just work from where it is now and soon it'll be good as n-"

"No." I say. "I know where we can go. I've got a perfect place for us to turn to." I bend down and pick up my bag, slinging the strap over my shoulder. "Everybody," I turn to the group, who had been doing whatever the hell after the battle. "It's time to move out."

* * *

I continue to sit on the back of the horse as we ride towards the new house. Skye'd fallen asleep against my back, her arms wrapped around me. I'd given the mob girls Leon to ride and the rest of us morphed into birds. Skye and I were both tired from the battle so we both ended up riding a random horse we'd flew overhead along the way. Skye's currently getting her rest against my back; I'll probably take a nap once we reach the new house. We're both stupidly low on energy.

"I see something up ahead!" Raphael says from above.

Of course, I already knew we were coming up on the house. Cupa too, given that she remembered the land leading up to it.

"If you can see it, feel free to move on ahead of us. Guide the mob girls there too."

Leon does know where the house is by now, but I'd have to tell him to go there, and that'd ruin the surprise of what it is.

"On it." Jason says.

I look up and see the birds-Raphael and Jason-advancing from behind us to ahead of us. Leon trails close behind them.

A minute or so later, as I ascend a grassy hill, I see the new house come into view.

"New home sweet home. Again." I say quietly to myself.

I ride up to the house, where Leon is already on the roof and the others are already outside. One thing I notice is that all of the barn animals from the other house are outside this one. The pet-type animals are probably inside then. Thank fuck.

I start to shake Skye, wary of not letting her fall off of the horse.

"Skye, wake up." I say semi-quietly as I continue to shake her.

She stirs slightly before wrapping her arms around me more tightly.

"Are we there yet?" she mumbles, half-asleep.

"We're there." I reach down and gently uncoil her arms from my abdomen.

Upon entering the double doors of the house, Skye and I immediately hear arguing.

"Hell no! I got here first!" I hear Ana's voice.

"B-but Jordan said I could have it!" Cupa responds.

"I didn't hear him say it! Besides, you can say he said anything; doesn't mean it's true."

"B...but it is true!"

"Yeah? Well I'm calling bullshit."

I take my hat off and run a hand through my hair before putting it back on. For God's sake.

"I'll go handle it." I say to Skye before ascending the staircase. On the way up, I spot the remaining animals from the other house. Good to know they're all safe.

Immediately after reaching the top of the stairs, I hear, "There he is! Why don't we see what he says." (That period is not a mistake. I ended it with that because I see it more as sort of a command than an actual question.)

"Jordan! Tell her what you said!" Cupa says to me.

I proceed toward the two of them without saying a word in response. I grab Ana's hand and pull her out of Cupa's bedroom and into the hallway. I then push Cupa into the room.

"Problem solved." I say as I walk away.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Ana says in anger.

"To take a shower." I say as I walk to the bathroom door. I place a sign next to the door and a holographic keyboard appears in front of me, hovering in the air. I type in "occupied" and hit enter before opening the door and walking inside.

Inside, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Jesus Christ. I don't have the energy for this shit."

I take off my hat and run my fingers through my hair again. This time I put the hat on the edge of the sink, along with the rest of my clothing. I run both hot and cold water and wait for the water temperatures to mix just right. Once the water reaches the temperature where it's just under the point of burning me, I get in. I don't know why I like the water this hot, but I do. Maybe just because I can take it, I guess.

The heat, however, does remind me of the Nether. And by extension, it reminds me of Blazette. The flashbacks have been unavoidable just about anytime I've been somewhere with a similar-feeling atmosphere. I remember it all so clearly. The way she flew out into battle, ready for anything, but still cautious of everything. My exact words before she started drawing the ghast away: "Don't. Get. Hit." How she did just that so I wouldn't. The small smile on her face when she saw how I'd reacted to her being alive, and how my only concern was keeping her that way. The way the acid ate away at her flesh. The memory that hurts the most: her last words. Her unfinished last words: "I love y-" I remember the smile on her face as she was saying that. And then...how the life was flushed from her eyes, gone within mere seconds of her starting her last words that she never got to finish.

I lean against the wall of the shower, my fist clenched and my head resting on my forearm. A loud knock on the door breaks me away from my thoughts.

"Jordan! Are you alright?! You've been in there for a while!" someone shouts over the rushing water. My brain didn't want to process the voice, yet still did for the words.

Despite all of the other water running along my body, what I notice most is what's coming from my eyes. Shit, when did I start crying?

"I-I'm fine!" I yell back to whoever was at the door. How long was I zoned out? "Gimme another minute!"

I reach out of the shower and grab my watch off of my pile of clothes. I check the time. 10:43. I've been in here for a half-hour?!

I finish up in the shower and step out of it, grabbing a towel from the towel rack and wrapping it around my waist. I wipe off the mirror over the sink and look at my reflection, staring into my own eyes. Another memory flashes into my head. From right after we got back from the Nether-right after I first received Fang. Two voices fill my head. Mine and Blazette's.

_"You are-"_ Blazette's voice starts.

_"I am-"_ my voice says.

_"A warrior!"_ the two finish in unison.

For just a second, I lose control over my body. Just a second, but still more than enough time. My hand clenches into a fist and collides right into the mirror, shattering the glass and cutting my hand in several places.

* * *

**_(Third Person POV)_**

Jordan walks out of the bathroom with a new outfit on, one hand tucked into the pocket of his jeans.

"Took you long enou..." Skye starts, but slows to a stop when Jordan walks right past her without a word or so much as a second of eye contact. "The hell is his problem?" she says to herself.

Skye walks into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. She reaches to the hem of her black tank top and starts to pull it up. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a faint, gold light on the mirror. She quickly turns her head in its direction, but sees nothing out of the ordinary. Just her own image reflected in the spotless sheet of glass.

"Dear God, I look disgusting." she remarks at her appearance. No makeup whatsoever on her face, her hair disheveled, and her eyes tired, despite having slept on the back of the horse.

* * *

Skye emerges from the bathroom and breaks the "occupied" sign, putting it back down blank. She descends the stairs to see Jordan asleep on the couch. Why he didn't sleep in the bed upstairs, she'll never know. Next to him-on the floor-is Luna, who seems to be enjoying him sleeping a lot more than she probably should. She grabs the end of his shirt and presses it to her face, inhaling deeply. Her tail wags furiously as she does this.

Skye looks at this scene in confusion, but simply dismisses it. She's never owned a dog, so she wouldn't really be able to tell if that is or isn't typical canine behavior.

Skye spots Jordan's glasses and Batman SnapBack lying on the coffee table beside him. She picks up the hat and takes it into the nearby bathroom, trying it on and looking at herself in the mirror.

"Hm." she smiles at her reflection, which she approves of.

After adjusting the hat to her size, Skye spends a few minutes striking different poses and trying different angles in front of the mirror.

"I look so good in this." she says, pleased.

Right at that moment, the door opens, making Skye jump.

"Of course you had it." Jordan says, taking the hat off of Skye's head, adjusting the band, and putting it on his own.

"Don't you knock?" she says.

"Meh." he replies, shrugging nonchalantly. "Don't think that we're skipping out on your training just because of what happened."

Jordan wraps his arms around Skye, looking into the eyes of her reflection rather than her actual person. He'd been training her in various things since what happened in the Nether, making sure she could manage on her own if he ended up gone one day. It'd be rough the day of, but she gets two days of rest afterwards, then the cycle repeats.

She looks up at him. "Do we really have to work my body to the max in this training?"

"You wanna be a badass, right? You gotta have endurance, gotta form a strong body that can take anything you throw at it."

"But you always push me so far. In still recovering from last time!" Skye lies in an attempt to avoid the training. "I can't do everything you're trying to make me do."

"You know, I said the same thing four years ago, when I first started weight training. Rico pushed me farther than I thought I could go; he'd give me more than the weight I was at, that I hadn't been lifting for too long. I said I couldn't do it. But he made me. And just Look at me now."

Skye remains silent.

"You know what that pain means right?" Jordan asks.

"Yeah." Skye responds.

"It means you're getting stronger." the two of them say together.

"Hang in there. It'll all pay out in the end."

Skye grumbles.

Jordan smiles and reinstates his embrace on her. "I hope you're ready for the pit." At that statement, he lets her go and walks out of bathroom just as quickly as he'd come in.

"Wait, what?! What pit?!" After a moment of confusion, Skye runs out after him, but finds him to be already gone. How the hell did he even disappear so fast?

* * *

I walk around the wide field behind the house, completely lost as to what I'm supposed to see. Jordan had told me to come here now but there's nothing here, including him!

"This motherfucker."

At that, I hear Pistons activate, but from no visually discernible location. A moment later, an arrow whizzes over my head, embedding itself into the ground close behind me. I duck, of course, almost falling to the ground by the sudden, impulsive movement. I lunge into a roll to the left as another arrow digs into the ground directly right of me, where I had been just a second ago. I repeat the same action, but in the opposite direction, as another arrow digs into the ground to the left of me.

I scramble to my feet and run, headed in no particular direction. A stream of arrows, now coming at me with less time in between, shoots at my head, narrowly missing as I run just far enough ahead of each one to avoid getting hit. I come up on a two-by-two blocks hole ahead of me and I slide into it, tumbling onto the ground at the bottom of it. The spot where I landed is made of wool. The hell?

I stand up and straighten my clothes as I take a few steps forward. With the sounds of Pistons ringing out once more, yhe hole above me shuts as well, so that's just great. Ahead of me is a long tunnel, lit by torches. At one point along one of the walls is an iron door with no visible outside lever or button or anything to open it. As I approach the door, it swings open and I jerk back in just enough time to avoid being hit in the face.

Out steps Jordan, putting the string of his ultimate bow across his body.

"That was decent work running from the arrows. Kind of a slow start though. B-minus." he says, nonchalantly.

I look at him as if he's insane. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I push him. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU START SHOOTING AT ME?! YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

He grabs both of my hands as I try to punch him.

"Skye-"

"Don't fucking touch me!" I try to pull my wrists from his grasp, but to no avail.

"Skye-"

"After what you just put me through-making me worry about y-"

"SKYE!" he yells at me, cutting me off. He never yells at me. "Chill! The fuck! Out! You were fine! You should know by now an ultimate bow doesn't hurt humans!"

He loosens his grip on me, about to let me go, and I rip my arms away.

"That wasn't fucking funny." I say, facing away from him and crossing my arms.

"Wasn't supposed to be."

He escorts me down the tunnel to a ladder. Once at the bottom of the ladder, I'm faced with a large, open, and way better illuminated arena. It resembles a coliseum, except with no spectators' area.

I step in, looking around in awe, before I hear more Pistons. I spin around to see the two-by-two doorway missing, the stone that sealed it blending perfectly amongst the rest of the stone in this place.

"Jordan!" I shout, knowing this had to be his doing.

I walk uncomfortably around the arena, eventually finding myself in the center. At that moment, one of the walls open up to reveal a hidden doorway, through which I can see something. A person. Bleached white skin and black long hair, along with black jeans and a white hoodie. In the person's hand is a knife. Wait, that's the same guy that attacked Jordan a few weeks ago! Jordan explained he's a creepypasta and what his name is, but I can't remember what he said.

He wastes no time in charging at me, sprinting at full speed. He reaches me in incredible time, slashing wildly at me. I bob and weave around most of them, but the last one gets my cheek. It stings and draws blood, but it's a really minor wound; I'll be fine.

The creepypasta thrusts his knife toward me and I jump back in time to miss the blade. I grab his arm and pull him in close, slamming my knee into his gut. He drops the knife and falls to his knees, clutching his stomach. I spin and kick him in the side of the head. I pick up his knife and drop to my knees, plunging the blade into his chest.

Another set of Pistons activates; I spin around to see a doorway open with a gray wolf behind it. I don't see how dangerous this one is supposed to be. I pick up the knife and slowly approach the wolf, who's facing away from me. It quickly turns around to face me and everything-including it-changes. Everything farther than a few blocks away from me is shrouded in complete darkness and I swear I see the dog's fur change to a mixture of black and a reddish color. However, I only got a split-second glimpse before the dog-being outside of my vision radius-slips into the surrounding darkness.

"Pass it on." a demonic voice rings in my head.

I spin around, trying to see if I can see literally _anything_-but of course, I cant. Just two blocks away from me all around, which only really give me a few of the smooth stone floor I'm standing on. I spin back around, hearing the pitter-patter of paws somewhere in the darkness around me. It's easy to get disoriented in this darkness, not being able to know in which direction you're going or even facing, being able to see just over an arm's length away. I spin around over and over at the sound of the paws, which sounds like it's coming from everywhere at this point.

Suddenly, the red and black wolf emerges from the darkness, pouncing at me. I quickly dive to the side, rolling smoothly and rising to my feet just as smoothly. As soon as I stand back up, the wolf comes out of the darkness again, charging at me at an incredible speed. I wind my foot back as far as it can go and kick the wolf with all my might. I hear a loud THUD! as it presumably collides hard with the stone wall. My vision returns to normal, the darkness becoming illuminated within a second or two, and I run at the downed canine. A pick up the knife, which I'd dropped in the dive, and finish him off with a quick jab to the neck.

I drop to my knees and rest against the wall to catch my breath. As I do so, the events repeat as another set of pistons activate. My luck must have been exceedingly shitty in this particular moment, because the wall directly in front of me opens into a doorway. I scuttle away from the doorway as quick as humanly possible, afraid of what may come out of it. Unlike the other rooms, the one behind this door isn't lit up in the slightest. The room must be pretty deep in the wall, given the pitch-black darkness of it.

As I peer into the eerily dark room, two glowing, red dots suddenly appear in the darkness, making me jump out of my fucking skin. Immediately, something shoots out of the room at an insane speed, going too fast for me to even see it in detail. All I can see is its entirely black body, large, butterfly-like wings, and eyes that glow a terrifying red. It's wings flutter quickly, making a disgusting noise that makes my skin crawl just from hearing it.

The thing flies around the room aimlessly for a few seconds-zooming back and fourth from one side to the next random one and onto the next from there-before eventually sticking to the wall for a half of a second and shooting straight towards me. I just barely roll out of the way in time for it to miss, hitting the ground hard. But it's quick to recover, rising back to its feet and into the air within two seconds. Again, it shoots toward me. This time it hits, knocking me to the ground with tremendous force and making me drop the knife, before pinning me to the nearest wall. Now getting a good look at it, I can see all the features of it. The creature is a six-or-so-foot, humanoid bug. I remember hearing about this a while ago-probably from Jordan-but I can't remember its name. As it hit me, I got a foot planted on it, which I'm currently doing my best to keep it at bay with, pushing with that one foot as hard as I can to make sure it doesn't completely reach me.

I try my hardest to escape the creature's hold, but I can't break free. It starts bringing its face closer to mine, snarling horrifically, probably ready to sink its teeth into my face. I scream and struggle as hard as I can, but still can't free myself from the creature's custody. I-I can't do it! I can't get out! This is the end! Tears start to run down my face. A pain arises inside of me, a pain that I can't remember ever feeling. This isn't coming from an outside source; this pain isn't physical. It's completely emotional.

The pain intensifies as I think about Jordan, how he got me into this. How...how I'm gonna die...because of him... Oh God, is this...is this how he felt after he realized I caused the thing with the dragon?! Is this what he felt?! Was this the point of this?! No. No, it can't be. We just moved to the new house. There's no way he got this ready _that_ fast. But, if not that, then why did he do this? Why...am I going to die?

_"Giving up?"_ I hear Jordan's voice. I look around frantically, but he's nowhere to be seen.

_"Jordan, I can't do this."_ I hear my own voice say in response.

_"I take it that's a yes?"_

I hear nothing in my voice.

_"Skye-Skye look at me-don't doubt yourself. You can do it. Ignore what your brain tells you you can't do. Your brain is wrong. You won't get anywhere if you can't push your boundaries. So listen to me and listen closely: if you feel overpowered-whether it's by your own body or someone or something else-and you think for even a second that you can't win, remember my words. Yes! You! Can!"_

I look up at the creature. My singular leg starts failing more and more to hold my back every second. I lift my other leg up off of the ground. I'd been using it to maintain my leverage, but this is do or die-and I know I can do it. I plant my right foot firmly on the creature right next to my left. With all the strength I can muster in them, I push. The monster staggers backwards, not nearly as much as I'd expected and hoped for, but definitely enough. It lets me go and I dart in the direction of the knife, the creature closely in tow. I grab it and spin around quickly, jamming about half of the blade into its glabella, stabbing the creature right between its eyes.

The creature lets out a horrific shriek and blood oozes-and sprays a little bit-from where the knife is jutting out of its face. It flies around the room in a panicked frenzy, eventually managing to focus enough to fling its body in my direction. I drop to the ground, the creature zooming right over me and colliding into the wall behind, only embedding the knife further into its skull. It, of course, lets out an other shriek, and I take the moment to get to my feet and and to its backside. I grab the back of its head and smash its face into the wall. I repeat this again and again and again until it stops moving and making noise.

I drop to my ass, breathing heavily, before falling flat on my back and staring up at the stone ceiling. A minute or so later, I sit up abruptly at the sound of footsteps and clapping. I turn in the direction of the sounds to see Jordan approaching me. At the sight of him, I clench the handle of the knife more tightly than I had during the actual fight with whatever those were.

"You did good. I'm proud of you, Skye, and you should be too." he stops, crossing his arms.

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

"I'm serious; I expected to have to save you, but you pulled it together. I was literally half a second away from shooting the Mothman when it had you pinned." In all honesty, I was terrified when I saw that happen, but I can't let her know that. "Seriously, congratulations."

I reach a hand down to Skye to pull her up.

Skye responds my lashing out at me, swinging Jeff's knife wildly at me in hopes that one connects. I dodge each swift with no problem and catch her arm on the last one, twisting it and disarming her.

"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Skye rips her arm from my grasp. "YOU HAD SOME SERIOUS BALLS WITH THE ARROW ATTACK, BUT THIS IS JUST IN-FUCKING-SANE! YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND! WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD YOU DO THAT SHIT TO ME?! WERE YOU _TRYING_ TO FUCKING KILL ME?!"

"Calm the fuck down! You were never in any real harm! I was watching from up there," I point to a hole in the stone wall, from which I observed the matches with the creepypastas, ready to interject if she was overpowered and couldn't win. "Waiting and ready to save you if I had to. I had my ultimate bow drawn the entire time, Skye. I could've killed the creepypasta and healed you if you got hurt by it. I'd never put you into actual, life-threatening danger; you know this."

"You know what?! No! You must have hit your head when you fell off that dragon, 'cause you clearly lost your fucking mind! But you know what now?! Fuck you!" Skye slaps me hard and storms out of the arena, leaving me standing there alone. Of course, the pain doesn't really bother me, but this slap was harder than any of her others. I could really feel the emotion behind it, the feeling put into it. I reach down and pick up Jeff's knife before looking at the exit again. I then sluggishly make my way towards it.

"She took this way too personally." I say to myself. "Like I said, she wasn't in any _real_ danger, right. Nah, she was fine." I walk silently to the ladders leading up to the hole that was previously sealed off. A dirt block is missing, undoubtedly Skye. I climb the ladder to the surface and, once there, let out a heavy sigh, taking of my hat and running my fingers through my hair one last time.

"God," I start. "I really fucked up this time, didn't I?"

* * *

_**Any of you see the Fallout 4 live-action trailer? God, I'm so fucking ready for this game!**_


	27. Village Life

**Chapter 27: Village Life**

"C'mon!"

"Keep going!"

"Faster!"

"Harder!"

I say all of this as I dodge each of the punches Skye throws at me.

"Again." I say as Skye stops, catching her breath.

We spar every other day. The matches last until she lands a few solid hits on me. I didn't expect her to still want to do this, but I guess she knows it's good for her. That or she just wants an opportunity to kick my ass.

Skye says nothing to me, refusing so much as making eye contact. And when she does, she glares at me like she wants me dead. How long is she gonna be mad at me this time? I already apologized, though she probably chose not to accept it, so now it's all down to waiting.

She stands up straight, breathing normally enough. She's ready for another round.

"I get that you're emotional right now and all, but don't let it get the best of you. It's making your movements slow and sloppy." I say as she throws punch after punch, none of which connect with me. So far she's landed on hit on me, though it wasn't as hard as it should've been by her standards. Her emotions are driving her, but they're also clouding her mind, holding her back.

"If you're gonna fight mad, you should learn to use your emotions rather than letting them use you." I say.

Skye throws a right hook at me. I duck under it, but when I come up to meet her face-to-face, it's not her I'm looking at. In her stead, I see Blazette. I hesitate for a second; I swear I can feel my heart stop and restart. I blink a few times and the image returns to Skye. She takes my hesitation as the perfect opportunity, throwing another right hook. This one collides hard with my left cheek, staggering me back and almost to one knee.

I can't fight like this. I gotta clear my head.

Skye throws a jab my way. I deflect the attack, knocking it away with my forearm. "That was good; were done for today." I say as I catch her wrist just as she throws another punch.

She rips her wrist from my hand again and I turn around to walk back to the house.

"Hey!" Skye shouts at me, the first word she's said since we came out here. "I'm not fucking done!"

I turn around to face her, walking backwards toward the house. "I am." I say as I spin back around.

* * *

I climb out the shower for the second time today, drying myself off with a towel. Better to get all that sweat off then to marinate in it. I throw the clothes I'd put on this morning back on and leave the bathroom. I leave my hat off for now; I'll put it on when my hair isn't so wet.

As I walk down the hall, I pass Neige. I'm just not noticing that she isn't wearing her normal winter coat.

"Where's your coat?" I turn and ask her.

"Huh?" she asks, caught off guard.

"Your coat. Heavy, too big for you, snowman design. Your hat too. Where are they?" I elaborate.

"Oh! It...it got destroyed. During the fight..." Neige looks at the ground.

That's right. The wyvern shot a fireball into the trench. That means her coat must've been in there if it got destroyed.

I put an arm around her shoulder, "Come with me."

I lead the snow golem girl to the bathroom, the closest room that I know has a closet. Once inside, I open one of the drawers and search through it before finding what I'm looking for.

"Here." I present Neige with my black and white checkered winter hoodie. "It's a little too big for you, but-then again-so was the other one.

Neige takes the hoodie from me, holding it up in front of her and looks at it with awestruck eyes. She looks at the hoodie for a few seconds before looking back up at me. She slips her arm into one of the sleeves, throws it across her back, and slips her other ark into the remaining sleeve.

I zip the hoodie up for her and pull the hood over her head.

"Cute, but not you." I lower the hood. "Better."

I look into Neige's eyes. Her red eyes. That's right, she's not a vanilla snow golem. Sometimes I forget she's a snow storm snowman from the Monster Evolution Mod. I don't think the mods would normally intermix like this, but this world isn't exactly like the game. It sure doesn't run on all the same physics.

I'm brought out of my thoughts by something suddenly clashing with me, nearly knocking me off my feet in my distracted state. I look down at Neige, who's pressed against me, her arms wrapped around my back. I put a firm hand on her head, feeling her silky, orange hair. I never noticed how soft it is. With Neige this close I also notice the scent. Another thing I apparently never noticed is the slight aroma of pumpkin pie coming off of her hair. It's not too faint, but not to strong, perfectly drifting through your nostrils.

I...need to stop...

"Okay, don't get too carried away." I pull away from the snow golem.

Neige looks up at me smiling, then she quickly diverts her gaze to the ground.

I ruffle her hair. "I don't know if I have a hat that'd suit you." I look at the nightstand in which all of my clothes are. "Actually..."

I open one of the infinitely-deep drawers and forage through it until i find what I'm looking for. I pull out an orange and black SnapBack with a jack-o-lantern face on it. This'll do.

"There we go. It's better suited for Halloween since it's a jack-o-lantern, but it's close enough to a plain pumpkin I guess."

I slap the hat onto her head, adjusting the band a few times until it fits her just right.

"How's that?" I ask.

"Perfect." she responds.

Neige looks at me for a few seconds before jumping into my arms again.

"Whoa, why?" I ask.

"Your heartbeat. I like it; it sounds nice." she presses the side of her head against my chest.

I just stand there, Neige pressed against me, unsure how to respond.

"It sped up." she says.

"Okay, that's enough!" I immediately break away from her. I rush out of the bathroom, leaving Neige behind with a smile on her face that I don't want to stick around to analyze.

* * *

"I'll be back." I say as I pull my shoes on on my way out of the front door.

"Where are you going?" Ana asks.

"Out." I respond, closing the door behind me.

Even from outside, I can hear a conversation start from inside the house.

"The hell is his problem?" one voice says.

"I don't know; I hope he's okay." another responds.

I morph into a bird and flap my wings, taking off and flying away from the house. I need to go somewhere to clear my head.

* * *

I fly around a stone quarry for a while, going out a little bit before eventually circling back around to it. The thermals here are really good. Thermals aren't really a necessity for flying, but they do make it a hell of a lot more easy and enjoyable.

I lost track of how long I've been out a while ago. I think it's been a few hours; I don't really know. Either way, it feels really good to fly, the air flowing across my body, wind brushing against my feathers. And it feels really liberating to break away from the shackles of gravity for a while every now and then.

Below me, I see a tiger giving chase to a smaller, slower animal.

The hell?

I fly out ahead of the two animals and land. I land near their path but not in it, so that I don't divert them from their current path. I demorph and turn around to face them as they run in my direction. The smaller animal appears to be some sort of wolf. Not a vanilla Minecraft one though, and I don't recognize it from any of the mods implemented into this world. Weird.

The dog moves slowly, and unnaturally. It's injured. Easy prey for the tiger; but I'm not letting that happen.

I summon Fang and wait for the two to reach my spot. Once they do approach-and are about to pass-me, I slash my sword, sending a red blade shooting toward the tiger. It clips one of the big cat's hind legs, sending it tumbling to the grassy ground and roaring in pain.

I quickly approach the beast and thrust my blade into its neck, ending its misery. I kneel down next to the body and rest a hand on it.

"I'm sorry." I say with my head bowed and my eyes closed.

I open my eyes to the sight of the wolf approaching me. Looking at it closely, I see that's it's a German Shepherd-wolf hybrid. I knew those exist, but this is the first time ever seeing one in person. It approaches me, curious, but also afraid.

I withdraw Fang and present my open palm to the dog.

"It's okay; I won't hurt you." I say tenderly as I very slowly reach out to the dog.

It recoils, as was expected, but doesn't retreat.

"Don't worry, you're safe. I won't do anything to you." I continue to reach out to the dog. This time it resists less and accepts my hand as I lightly caress its muzzle.

"Good boy-er-" I check the dog's undercarriage. "Girl."

Her fur is mostly white and grey, with a faint brown in various areas like the muzzle and paws. Her fur is also matted with blood in some areas.

"You were hurt pretty bad, girl,"

I inspect the dog's injuries. Various slashes and a few bites are littered across her body.

I take off my t-shirt and pull out a pair of shears, cutting the shirt into strips of various lengths and widths. I leave a good amount of it to use as a rag. I take out a bucket of water and submerge the "rag" into it, cleaning the dog's wounds with it. Alone, the wounds would be far from fatal, infection being the worst case scenario. But together she may be in danger of bleeding out.

I wrap the dog's wounded areas in the makeshift bandages. By the end of it, she has bandages on her front and hind legs, side, and one on her front left paw. I finish up the bandages and the dog collapses into my arms, somehow breathing both heavily and rapidly.

"I need to get you somewhere safe." I pick up the dog. I can't think of any morph I can use to carry her-or better said, a morph I can pick her up with-so I'll carry her in my arms if I have to.

* * *

_**(? POV)**_

I pull the last carrot from the ground and carry my current armful to the storehouse. I put them in the chest designated for food and close the lid, letting out a sigh of relief.

I run my hand through my brown hair and wipe the sweat off of my brow. Work in the village is tedious, but I've lived here my entire life; it's all I know. It's not particularly hard, but the heat of the desert doesn't exactly help. This is where I've lived since I was born, so I'm used to it, but there are still those days that are significantly hotter than others, including today. I just wish something interesting would happen every once and a while. Like the time that human came here.

* * *

_I sit in one of the various empty houses in the village, fanning myself with a piece of paper. We've been in an odd heat wave for the past few days. This happens every once in a while, but it's never been this bad. I hope it passes soon._

_Outside, I hear several footsteps in the gravel as well as the neigh of a horse. Within seconds, I hear Roshi's-the village's general goods vendor and self-appointed tour guide-voice._

_"Hello, good sir. Would you like to trade?"_

_I rush to the window of the house. We have a visitor; we just about never have visitors. I peek my head into the window just enough for me to have a good view of what's happening outside. As I peek out the window, I see a man. He has brown skin and is really tall. He has some weird, foreign hat on his head and the reigns of a demonic-looking horse in his hand._

_Just looking at him, I can feel my heartbeat speed up._

_"No, I'm just browsing." he says._

_At the sound of his voice, my heart skips a beat and, for a second, I can't even breathe._

_The man looks around._

_"Got it."he says, pausing for a second before diverting his eyes to my position._

_Shit!_

_I quickly duck underneath the window. I hope he didn't see me! The elder doesn't like me making contact with outsiders. They say I'm special and they want to keep me safe; something about my human appearance. But that doesn't stop me from being interested._

_I reach my hand up to my chest, feeling my racist heart._

_"Wh...what's happening to me?"_

* * *

It's been roughly a month since that human first came here, and we haven't seen him since. I wish he'd come back. It's weird that I feel this way toward a total stranger, but I just can't help it!

"Vera!" Elder Boyd, one of the few female elders in the village as well as the medic, bursts through the door, making me jump out of my skin. Elder Boyd's always treated me like a daughter, but acted like an older sister, if that makes any sense.

"Gods, don't do that! You're gonna give me a heart attack!" I say, recovering from the unpleasant surprise.

"It's him; he's back!" she says.

"Who are you talking about, Elder?"

"Him! The human!" she says.

My face lights up with joy, and I try to hide it from Elder Boyd.

"O-okay? Why would I care?" I turn away from her.

"Vera, you know you can't hide anything from me, especially when you express it so obviously. I know how you feel for this human."

I let out a sigh. "I guess not. It's true. I don't even know him, yet I feel so drawn to him. As embarrassing and foolish as it may sound, I fell in love with him at first sight."

"Well you _are_ at that age."

"That's not funny. What do I do?"

"You're still young, Vera; you're not supposed to have life figured out just yet."

I remain silent.

"Well," she walks over to me. "First, you need to introduce yourself. I'm going to see the human and you're coming with." Elder Boyd grabs the sleeve of my robe and pulls me towards the door.

"No!" I retract my arm. "I can't! Not to him!"

"Oh, come on, I'm sure he'll like you."

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

I sit inside of one of the village's empty houses, awaiting someone to come attend to the dog. She lies on her side, her breathing ragged.

"You'll be alright, girl," I rub her stomach. "We're here to get you help." I say.

Now that I think about it, I'm not wearing a shirt. Just my Brotherhood of Steel hoodie I got from...her... I craft and place a closet and take the hoodie off. God, of course the one day I'm not wearing an a-shirt under my t-shirt is the day I have to go without said t-shirt. I pull out a black t-shirt, using it to wipe the sweat off of my body. I put it back and pull out a grey one, shutting the drawer.

I hear the door open behind me and someone starts a sentence, but as I turn to face them-my grey shirt not yet on my body-they immediately stop. In front of me stands two women-one old and one young, probably around my age. I don't see the younger one for long before she bolts out of the door she just came in. All I managed to catch was brown hair, a brown villager's robe, and a bright red face.

"Who was that?" I ask the older woman as I pull my t-shirt over my head and my arms through the sleeves.

"I think she'd prefer if she introduced herself."

I walk to the doorway and look out, but the girl is nowhere in sight.

"Strange..." I scratch my jawline and under my chin, as I commonly do with my chin beard.

"She sure is."

Strange, but cute.

* * *

"She's a trooper to have survived that attack," Doctor Boyd, the old lady, says. "But she's lost a lot of blood. I can't guarantee that she'll make it."

"She will. If she survived a tiger attack, she won't just sit back and let some bitch-ass blood loss take her." I put a hand on the dog's side. "Ain't that right, girl?"

"What's her name?" Doctor Boyd asks, something I probably should've expected, but didn't.

"Huh?" I respond, caught off guard.

"The dog, what's her name?"

"I...I never really gave her one. I just found her before I came here; I didn't even plan on keeping her." I scratch my head.

As much as I'd love to keep her, the house is a bit overrun with animals as it is. I don't know if I can comfortably fit in a dog, especially with Luna already more or less filling that role. She'd probably end up fighting the dog.

"Everyone deserves a name, son," Boyd turns to me. "Human and animal alike."

She's got a point...

I look at the dog, her dark white and dark grey fur, her pointed ears.

"Anubis." I think that suits her.

"Eh?"

"Anubis. On Earth he's a god from a place called Egypt-though his name comes from Greece, a different place. He has different roles in different contexts-an embalmer, a protector of graves and the dead, a guide of souls, and some other stuff oriented with the afterlife."

"I don't know what about half of that means, but if that's her name, that's her name."

Yeah, I thought she wouldn't understand some of that. The Egyptian and Greek part in specific.

As I open my mouth to say something, a sound immediately makes me stop and shit it.

"S-" Doctor Boyd starts.

"Shhh!" I shush her. Again, I hear it-the sound a booming in the distance. "Don't you hear that?" I ask.

"What?"

I remain silent, focusing on the sound. The faint, distant boom approaches, followed by some sort of roar.

I stand up quickly, and as I die so, a scream comes from somewhere in the village. I rush out of the house, Boyd following.

"You stay here; you have to look after Anubis!"

"Bu-"

"I got this. Just make sure the dog stays safe."

I run toward the source of the scream, sped up significantly by the Velocity Raptor's speed buff. Once I reach the sight, I see a cave ogre wreaking havoc as various villagers flee the scene in terror. The cobblestone, tower-like building is half destroyed with one villager stuck there, their lower body trapped under the rubble of the building.

I dash to the villager being kept hostage by the cubic-meter-big cobblestone blocks. I don't have a pickaxe on me and I can't lift the blocks-or I can, but it'd take too long in this situation. I summon Fang and swiftly slice the blocks into tiny pieces, kicking them off of the villager and helping him up.

"Thank you." the elderly man says.

"Don't mention it."

He tries to take a step but immediately falls back to the ground. I catch him before he hits. I put his arm across my shoulders and wrap mine around his midsection, hoisting him back to his feet.

As I start to walk with the old man, two young, female villagers run up to us, taking him from me. Good. Putting it bluntly-no matter how bad it may sound-I can't afford to be stuck with the old man; given the circumstances, he'd just slow me down.

"You worry about the monsters; we'll take care of him."

Wait, monsters?! As in more than one?! Shit!

I give a quick "M-hm." and immediately evacuate the premises.

As I turn the corner, I see two little kids-I didn't even know those existed here, with the exception of some of the mob girls of course-cornered by an ogre. It raises its beefy arm, holding its club, ready to strike. The kids scream their hearts out as the ogre's arm reaching the peak of its ascent, but it doesn't stay there for long.

I slash Fang at the ogre's arm. The blade cuts like a hot knife through butter, severing it at the forearm. The arm-or the half of the arm-falls limply to the ground and blood sprays from the remaining stump. The kid's stare in horror, probably scarred, but not dead.

I unleash a few more energy blades at the ogre, cutting into it in various places. Once I reach it, I drag Fang across it stomach, disembowling it. Not the quickest way to kill it for the kids, but as I said: scarred, but not dead. I grab the kids and run them away from the ogre, before returning alone to finish it.

The ogre lets out a loud roar that quakes in my eardrums. I clench my ears to keep my eardrums from bursting.

"Fuck this." I say and let out several slashes at the ogre's two heads, repeatedly hitting it with energy blades until the heads aren't connected to the body anymore.

I leave the area as the four-block-tall beast falls to the ground, lifeless. I need to get to the next one, wherever it may be. I hear another scream to the right of me, making me stop in my tracks.

"Speak of the devil." I think out loud.

I dash to the scream to find another villager being terrorized an ogre. I put the ogre down quickly and move on, no time to waste. The worst part about this is that I don't even know how many of them there are. As I run past a building, the earth quakes under me, erupting in waves that send me flying forward.

I tumble across the gravel, scratching myself up on the tiny rocks. I lie on my back, an ogre standing right over me, it's arm already high in the air. The very next second, it brings its club down, straight at me. I cross my arms and summon Regulus, the name I gave to the shield from Notch and Jeb, at its full size. The club hits the shield and recoils back, making the ogre stagger backwards onto its ass.

The ogre hits the ground with a powerful THUD! I quickly rise to my feet and summon Fang again at his full size. I thrust the blade through the ogre's head, taking care of it immediately.

Yet another scream erupts from the other side of the village; there's just no end to this shit, is there?! I sprint to where it came from and find that girl from earlier cornered by an ogre. The ogre's club is already swinging down toward her this time. I tackle her out of the way-not the most graceful way to save her, but it gets the job done-and the ogre smashes into the building that the girl had been in front of. It wastes no time in coming after us. This one reacts and moves in general faster than the others.

The ogre immediately swings its club down at us again; I cross my forearms and Regulus spreads across me and the villager girl in an instant. The club smashes hard against the shield, and I can feel the force being exerted on me rather than the shield. The ogre pushes down harder on the shield and I have to push with both of my legs to keep it up.

The ogre raises its club again, relieving me for a second, before immediately slamming it down again. It repeats the process over and over. I see a crack appear at the edge of the shield; the ogre's trying to smash it!

Meanwhile, the villager girl lies next to me with a both worried and terrified look on her face. I don't know if she's scared for me or for herself.

"This kind of thing happen a lot?" I ask.

The villager girl shakes her head rapidly. She can talk, right

With every hit, I can feel my energy take a drop, and Regulus cracks just a little bit more. If I don't stay strong, it'll collapse. But with my continues decreasing energy, each hit does more than the last. The shield gets lower and lower as I continue to lose the strength to hold it up. Now I see how this works; I can use the shield, but at the price of my own energy. I'll have to be careful with how I use this in the future, if there's still a future for me after this.

Suddenly, I feel a surprising bit of relief; the shield feels a little lighter, but as far as I can tell, the ogre's hitting just as hard as he's been. I look as the villager and see her pushing up on the shield with her feet. Her face has a strained look on it as she does so.

"It's no good; at this rate, we'll die!" the villager girl speaks to me for the first time. I know this definitely isn't the time for this but her voice is beautiful. "I hope they've let Besi out."

Besi?

"Nah, we got this. On three, push up as hard as you can. After that, run like hell!" I instruct her. If I've learned anything from video games, it's that a well-timed shield bash can block a power attack and stagger your opponent.

"One!"

The ogre slams his club down on he shield.

"Two!"

The ogre reaches its arm into the air, ready to slam down on us again.

"Three!"

As the ogre swings its club, the villager girl and I push the shield up with all we've got. The club recoils back and he staggers.

"GO!"

The villager girl and I rise to my feet

"What about you?!" she asks.

"I'm gonna finish this!"

The ogre's arm comes down at us again. I push the girl out of the way and dive in the opposite direction, the club smashing into the ground between us.

"Get the fuck outta here!" I yell at her as I roll and swiftly rise back to my feet.

She scrambles back to her feet and runs away as fast as she can, looking back at me with a look of reluctance.

The ogre swings the club at me and I sidestep it, summoning Fang and Regulus. I think this is the first time I've summoned them both together. The ogre sweeps his arm horizontally, knocking me onto my ass, before trying to smash me while I'm on the ground. I roll to the side, the force from the impact next to me pushing me even farther. I roll to the wall that the ogre hit instead of the villager girl.

I stand up and-as I do so-the ogre charges at me. I plant my feet as firmly as I can in the sand and summon Regulus' full size; I brace myself for the impact.

The ogre collides with me hard, pushing me back quite a bit. My feet dig into the sand beneath them as they slide across it. It only lasts for a few seconds, though, before we stop, our exerted forces having reached equilibrium. I know I'm not strong enough to hold this thing back like this, so Regulus must be doing a lot of the work absorbing and recoiling the ogre's force.

The two of us break away and I see my opening. I've gotta act now; this is probably the best and possibly the only chance I have to take this thing down. The ogre jerks back and I immediately switch from Regulus to Fang, full-sized, and thrust him into the ogre's exposed midsection with all my remaining strength. That alone won't do it. I grip Fang's handle tightly and drag him upwards, slicing up through the ogre and cutting it almost completely in two. I swear I used energy I didn't even have; I think I have negative energy.

The ogre's body collapses to the ground and I stand there, sweat covering my body and my breathing heavy. It doesn't take long for me to follow suit; my vision blurs and I lose the strength I need to stay standing-or awake.

* * *

I wake up inside of somewhere dark; I can barely see anything. All I can really distinguish is the ceiling above me. I barely manage to muster up the strength to sit up. Under me is a bed and next to me lies Anubis, sleeping curled up next to me. I look around, and on the dark, other side of the room Doctor Boyd sits sleeping upright in a chair, that girl also sleeping in a chair next to her. I guess the two were watching over me. I know Boyd is a medic, but I don't know the significance of the girl.

Out the window everything is a dark blue-black-ish color. It's...nighttime? I check my watch. 1:17 AM. Holy shit, how long have I been out?!

I stand up and immediately regret it as the blood rushes to it. I stagger and almost stumble to the ground. I catch myself on the wall and rest there as my body settles. God, I feel like shit; I'm lightheaded, low on energy, and my entire body aches. My breathing is still a little heavy, but almost normal.

"You're up, that's good." Boyd says. When did she wake up?

I look in her direction, but say nothing, before returning my gaze out the window., my hands planted in my pockets.

"What's on your mind, son?" she asks.

"I have to leave." I respond, still looking out the window.

"Why is that?"

I turn around. "My group is probably waiting for me back home. I just disappeared for an entire day and it wouldn't be good for them if I did it again." Especially since last time I left for a day, a dragon showed up, a few people-myself included-almost died or got injured, and the house got destroyed.

"I don't think you'd make it on foot."

"I'll fly."

"Oh?"

"Yeah; I'll morph into a bird and fly home."

"You can barely stand, let alone fly."

She's got a point; I probably wouldn't make it in this state.

I walk back to the bed and sit down on it. I give a quick glance to the girl from earlier.

"She's been looking forward to meeting you since your first appearance last month," Boyd says. "She was so excited and scared when you showed up here earlier."

"Why? She doesn't even know me. The two of us are complete strangers." It'd probably be best to keep it that way. In this world, trouble seems to find me no matter where I am. It'd be best to keep her out of that.

"She doesn't really know, herself."

I say nothing.

"Tell me, do you believe in love at first sight?"

"No, I don't. Why?"

"I saw what went down, how you protected her from that monster."

"Oh?"

"I'd ask how you did it, but I'm more interested in why."

"Why?"

"Why you protected her. It's like you said, you're complete strangers. If you really think that, why'd you do it?"

"It's what I do now, after what happened. It was something that happened a while back, almost a month ago. I went to the Nether." I stare at the ground.

"That's a dangerous place, son."

"Yeah. I got into some trouble there and retreated to a Nether fortress for sanctuary. That's where I met her, where I met Blazette. If only I'd known then what was gonna happen just an hour or so later."

"What happened?"

"She kidnapped me."

"Excuse me?!"

"Yeah, I later found out it was 'cause she'd fallen in love with me. Just that quick. Like you said, love at first sight." If only she hadn't done that. If only I hadn't gotten her involved in my life. I should've left that balcony when she first showed up. "God, I wish that hadn't happened." I put my head in my hands. "We got attacked by some super-powerful ghast, and I told Blazette to distract it while I got away since her escape would be a hell of a lot easier and wouldn't require help. The group I was with when she kidnapped me came to rescue me and found themselves in the middle of it too. Then, I got blindsided. I ended up distracted trying to talk to my group and found myself in between a wall and an acidic fireball that'd kill me in one hit."

"Then?"

"She took the hit. Flew out in front of me and took a direct hit from the corrosive ball to her chest." I feel tears welling up in my eyes, some of them starting to roll down my face. "She died in my arms about thirty seconds later, her last words an 'I love you.' that she didn't even get to finish. I killed the ghast afterwards, but that wasn't gonna bring her back. She died for and because of me. My ignorance was her downfall. I know there's nothing I can do to bring her back. She risked and ended up giving her life for me, a stranger, someone she barely knew anything about. I figure this is my way of repaying her, not letting her death be in vain. She protected me, let me keep my life. I repay her by using that life to protect others."

"Aren't you afraid that you may die in the process?"

"No. Death isn't what scares me; I've welcomed the possibility of it. What scares me is my death meaning nothing; my life not having made a difference before the end of it. If I can make a difference to someone in my life, I'll be content in my death. Sorry if that sounds morbid."

Doctor Boyd smirks.

"What?" I ask.

"You're really something, boy."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"

"I'll put it like this: You're a good man, son."

"Thank you." I smile at her.

* * *

_**Just a few things to say:**_

_**1\. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This one was actually over 6,000 words, making it the longest one thus far.**_

_**2\. I have a list of the main characters' full names that I'll put in the intro A/N next chapter in case anybody wants to know.**_

_**3\. I give my condolences to any and all of those of you who may have had loved ones who lost their lives in Paris last night (November 13, 2015).**_


	28. Early-Morning Surprises

**Chapter 28: Early-Morning Surprises**

"He gives another smile,  
Tries to understand her side,  
To show that he cares.  
She can't stay in the room,  
She's consumed,  
With everything that's been goin' on.  
She says, 'Whatever happens,  
Don't let go of my hand.'"

I sing to myself as I lie on my back on top of a house in the village, my eyes closed.

"'Everything'll be alright.'  
He assures her,  
But she doesn't hear a word that he says.  
Preoccupied,  
She's afraid.  
Afraid what they've been doing's not right.  
He doesn't know what to say,  
So he prays,  
'Whatever, whatever, whatever,  
Whatever happens,  
Don't let go of my hand.  
Whatever happens,  
Don't let go of my hand.  
Whatever happens,  
Don't you let go of my hand."

I stop singing as I feel a presence approaching. Below me, I hear the crunching of gravel beneath someone's feet.

"This is just about where it was coming from." I hear the villager girl say. I really need to learn her name, but I'm going back home today so I guess at this it isn't really necessary anymore.

"Well the singing stopped now, so let's just get to work. Besides, we've also gotta find the outsider-given that he hasn't already left." I hear Elder Boyd's voice.

I roll over onto my stomach and crawl to the edge of roof I'm on. As I thought, down below are Boyd and the girl. I then switch back to my previous position lying on my back.

"You're not finding me," I say to the two below. "I'm long gone. Left last night, matter of fact."

I see the girl's face erupt in a vibrant red. Dear god, all I did was say two sentences.

I roll into my stomach again and slide my body over the edge, until I'm hanging onto it with just my hands. I then let go and land in the sand below. I could've jumped down and rolled, but I'd prefer not to get sandy. It's especially a bitch to get off sometimes.

"Was that supposed to be funny?"

"Not really, just not supposed to be taken seriously."

"You fix up the buildings?" she asks, referring to what I did in the early morning while everybody else was asleep.

"Somebody had to." I run a hand through my annoyingly thick head of hair before crossing my arms.

I turn my attention to the girl, who immediately looks away. The girl's behavior, what Boyd said about her being excited to meet me, and then her also asking if I believe in love at first sight all point to the girl being in love with me. I guess she saw me when I was last here, however long ago that was. I don't have time to get involved with her; I've got somewhere to be.

God, that probably made me sound like such an asshole.

"I made a house for Anubis, too. Speaking of, make sure her wounds get disinfected well while I'm gone."

"Will do." Boyd says.

"That being said, I'm off." I stick my hands in my pockets and start to walk in the other direction. The new house is even farther from the village as the old one was, so of course I won't be walking the entire distance. But it can't hurt to walk some of it.

"You're not saying goodbye to the dog?" Boyd asks.

"Nah, I'd love to, but that'd only make it hard to leave." I wouldn't be able to go back home after seeing her face. "Do me a favor and pass the message on." I look back at Boy'd.

"Mhm." she nods.

I start walking again, not even taking three more steps before the villager girl speaks up.

"W-wait!"

"Hm?" I stop mid-step, put my foot down, and spin around on it. By the time I'm done spinning, I'm already staring her in the face, hers mere inches away from mine. God, she's fast, and quiet.

Upon my eyes meeting hers and the realization of just how close we are, she flinches backwards and blushes.

I say nothing, just cock an eyebrow.

She quickly hugs me. "T-thank you. For saving me."

After a second of astonishment, I return the hug. "No problem."

I let go but she still holds on, her head pressed snugly against my chest. I put my hands on her shoulders and push her lightly, breaking the two of us apart. She smiles sweetly at me and I can feel my heart skip a beat for a second. I really need to get out of here.

I turn around again and take my leave from the village. Who knows when I'll even be back?

(Line)

I now lie on my back on top of the manor, this time actually looking up at the sky and not singing. I wouldn't have been able to do this with the other house because of Leon, but the manor's roof is more than big enough to hold him with plenty of extra space. I've been up here for about fifteen minutes and nobody's come up, so I'd assume nobody saw me land up here. Honestly I'm fine with that, I'll take a little alone time.

As I stare up at the sky, a voice brings me back to my senses. A voice I haven't heard in weeks. It's proper and imposes a sense royalty. It's...Blazette's voice!

"Hello, my warrior." I hear behind me.

My eyes widen, out of what exactly I don't know. I abruptly sit up and turn around as much as possible. When I do, I see her hovering just a little past the edge of the roof. As I stare at her in astonishment, I feel tears stream down my face. My face, however, shows no change. That is, not for a few seconds as I attempt to process what's happening.

"Are you not going to say anything?" she says, looking at me with kind, warm eyes.

She floats to the actual roof and lands on it. I get up and sprint towards her. When I reach her I practically jump onto her, sending the two of us flying off of the roof. We don't fall, though. Her superhuman strength that I remember from the Nether supports the two of us as we hover a few stories above the ground.

I hold her tightly, not wanting to let go, not wanting to lose her again after already having done it once. Considering how little we really even knew each other, I shouldn't be this attached to or emotional towards her. I guess that's survivor's guilt for you.

"How?" I ask.

"How what?" Blazette asks in return.

"How are you here? They said they couldn't bring you back." The two of us are still in the air, suspended thirteen or so blocks above the ground. "Actually, fuck it, I don't care!"

The two of us drift back to the rooftop where she lets me go. Once I reach touchdown, I fall to my knees in seconds and my head falls too.

"Blazette...I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean for what happened to happen."

"I understand that you are saddened by what happened, but you cannot blame yourself. What happened was not your fault, Jordan."

"But it was! You shouldn't have had to sacrifice yourself for me!"

"I did that because I wanted to. I was so concerned about your survival because it was my fault!"

"What?" I lift my head to see Blazette kneeling right before, her golden eyes looking right into mine.

"I brought you to the dugout; that's where you were attacked. If I had not taken you for my own selfish purposes, the two would not have gotten attacked."

"I mean, you can't blame yourself; you had no way of kn-" God dammit, that's the same thing everybody was telling me. I see where this is going. "I don't blame you; your intentions were innocent-to a certain extent."

"I suppose."

Blazette puts a gentle hand on my cheek. I can feel the warmth from it and see the caring in her eyes. I almost feel compelled to kiss her. Dear god, what's wrong with me?

"Listen, Jordan, if I cannot blame myself for what happened, neither can you. Do not feel obligated to make it up to me; you have no debt to repay to me."

I don't know what it is about her, but I feel tears start to make their way down my face again. God dammit, heart, get it together!

"_This,_" she wipes the tears away from my face. "Is not who I knew you as, not the strange man I fell in love with on that balcony." Blazette smiles at me.

She's actually really sweet, despite her tough exterior and initially hostile actions.

As I look at her, I see her body starts to slowly deteriorate, disappearing ember by ember. The miniature fires drift through the air for a few seconds before dying. The deterioration started with her arms and quickly sped up, as opposed to the slowness of when it started, eating away at her swiftly.

Despite her arms currently disappearing, Blazette holds my face in her hands. "Jordan," she smiles at me. "If protecting people is what you do, do it because you actually want to. Not because it's what I did for you."

She leans in and gives me a moderately long-lasting kiss on the cheek. It burns my face, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy every second of it. Blazette leans back and offers me a cute smile as the remnants as her body breaks down and the embers float away and die out. It should hurt to lose her again, but, as she disappears, with her goes a burden I'd been hoistering up on my shoulders for the past few weeks. I remain there, kneeling, looking at the spot where she had been with more tears on my face.

I...I think I'm ready to move past this. A small smile finds itself on my face as I wipe the tears away, hopefully for the final time anytime soon.

"Thank you, figment-of-my-imagination-Blazette." I let out a sigh.

Behind me, I hear the trap door leading up here open. I turn around to face whoever's coming up. I see Neige climbing up onto the rooftop.

"Master, are you okay?" she asks, approaching me nervously.

"Fine." I respond. "You knew I was up here?" I change from my kneeling stance to sitting down.

"I saw you land up here a little bit ago. I got worried when you didn't come down."

So someone did see me. Eh, whatever.

"Don't you think they noticed you disappeared just now?"

"No, I don't think anybody in there even would've."

"Well, _I_ definitely would've noticed."

Neige walks over to me.

"Master," she sits down next to me. "I've been thinking..."

Oh god, this won't be good for me, will it?

"I've seen how you and Miss Skye are with each other."

"Normally, or how it is now? Because what's going on between us now doesn't happen often."

"I've seen you two under normal circumstances-how you are around each other, and how you feel about each other."

"M-hm?" I look out across the land surrounding the house.

"I love you."

Okay, _that_ got my attention.

"W-what?!" I turn to her.

"I love you. That's what you two say to each other."

Oh, thank god. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Master, what does that mean? What is 'love'?"

"You...don't know...?" I ask, actually surprised at that.

Neige shakes her head.

"Well," I bring my knee up and rest my arm on it. "That really depends on context. Mainly who or what you're talking about. There's a few different kinds of love, but they all fall under the general definition of liking someone or something a lot." I shift my sitting position once more. "Take, for example, Skye and I. We have a romantic relationship; that's the kind of love we have. The other kind-platonic love-is for when you love someone in a familial sense instead of a romantic sense. In layman's terms, it's when you see someone as family. An easy way to distinguish the two is by thinking of having platonic love as just loving, and having romantic love as being _in_ love."

"Wh...what exactly are romantic feelings?" Neige asks, turning away from me.

"Fuck," I start. "That...that right there is a tough question to answer. They're those little things that you feel towards a certain someone. There's the happiness and nervousness of being around them. Your heart may race, or at times it may skip a beat-which is when your heart feels like it stopped for a second and kickstarts again the next. You may get super nervous when you're around them and not know what to do with yourself. Hell, your brain might seem to shut down partially or entirely around the person. You might like certain aspects of the other person. You may like their kindness, or maybe it's how they act towards and around you. Maybe your heart skips a beat when they smile at you." Neige stiffens at that comment. "Or maybe," I quietly creep up behind Neige and extend my arm out. "It's their touch." I place my hand on her shoulder and she jumps out of her skin. I swear I feel her shudder when she's settled.

"Regardless," I scoot back to my previous position. "The happy feelings don't come without bad ones, painful ones. Along with the happiness of being with the person, there's also the longing, the pain, the heartache of when you aren't or can't be around them, and the painful wait until you can see them next. All these feelings get jumbled up inside you and probably won't know what to do with yourself. This is the phase that we call the crush. It's when you develop these feelings and-more importantly-when you don't know how the other person feels, and when you go about finding out. If they don't feel the same way, your feelings will fade away in due time; if they _do_, a good amount of those feelings I said will be replaced by the contentment of knowing the other person feels the same way and that you can advance your relationship, that you can be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"So, you and Miss Skye..."

"Are boyfriend and girlfriend, yes."

"Is...it okay if you have more than one?"

"More than one boy- or girlfriend? No, not at the same time. That's a sort of taboo in relationships." In some places at least. "Having more than one is a betrayal of the feelings, trust, and faith that the other person may have put into you." Neige's head sinks and her shoulders sulk at that. "It also makes you what we call a 'cheater.'" And I'm one of them. "It's not even limited to actually having another boy- or girlfriend. Doing any romantic, couple-type things with another person can count as cheating. Flirting, kissing, sex, the whole nine yards. So much as saying you love another person romantically shows that you aren't serious about your significant other. Cheating on someone can devastate their emotional, mental, and even physical health. It can destroy a person, and it's easy as all hell for some to do. Point is, if you really love someone, you should stay true to them and them only." I look out across the landscape. "Those feelings may not last forever, though."

"Master..." I feel Neige tugging at the back of my hoodie.

I start to turn around to face her.

"Don't look!" Neige stays quiet for a few seconds. "I can't say this to your face. If I look at you, I won't be able to." I feel Neige press herself against my back and wrap her arms around me, hugging me from behind.

And here it comes.

"I...Master, I...I..." she stammers.

I sigh.

"I know, Neige."

Neige tightens her embrace.

"Listen, Neige," I uncoil her arms from my torso and turn to face her. "You're an amazing girl; don't think I don't see you that way. And don't think I haven't noticed how you act around me." Neige looks at the ground-er-the roof. "I love you too, Neige."

Neige's face becomes flushed with red. She looks down for a second before looking back up at me. Then, she leans in, her lips puckered. As she gets closer and closer, I reach my hand up, covering her mouth with it and stopping her.

"Neige, I _do_ love you. But not in the way that you love me. You're like the little sister I never had back on Earth. In the little time that we've known each other, you've become extremely precious to me, and I enjoy every moment I spend with you. But I can't let myself get caught up with other girls; I already have Skye, and, in terms of having a girlfriend, she's all I really need right now." As much as I do enjoy the harem I'm building, I can't let myself get entangled in it.

Neige looks at me with tears in her eyes. Shit, now I gotta fix this.

"Sorry if that hurt; rejections tend to. You'll feel better given some time."

Neige smiles and shakes her head. "It's not that." She wipes the tears from her eyes. "Master..." she approaches me.

Neige looks at me and smiles before bringing her face close to mine again. I attempt to lean back, but the only thing behind me is a fifteen-or-so-meter drop. Her lips make contact with my cheek, the one that Blazette didn't get. Oh, thank god.

"You're so nice." Neige looks down and smiles.

I let out a sigh, take off my hat, and run my hand through my hair. I might cut it soon. I might. I check my watch. 10:56 AM.

"We should probably head down." I stand up. "I imagine the others are looking for you now and I need to take a shower." I didn't get to take one at the village and I feel gross.

As I climb down the ladder to the second floor of the manor, I notice Skye coming down the hall. I turn to her and see a mix of emotions on her face, mostly shock, some relief, maybe a little bit of happiness-and when I say happiness I mean the tears-of-joy level happiness, not just smiling happiness. I open my mouth to say something, but am cut off before I can get anything out. I fall to the ground as I'm smacked hard in the face by a foot, having specifically been hit around my left eye and my nose. Along with that a body falls on top of me, landing right on my stomach. Thank God I hadn't worn my glasses yesterday, or else they would've been broken just now.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!" Neige says frantically as she climbs off of me. "I lost my footing and didn't know you were under me!" She reaches out to help me.

Just barely in my field of vision, I see Skye slightly scowl at me as she turns around and walks away. Don't tell me she's pissed again just from me having been alone with Neige.

"I'm fine." I say holding my nose and with my eye clenched shut.

"You're hurt!" Neige says.

"I said I'm fine." I look at Neige's face and I can see pain. She's hurt for having hurt me. I climb to my feet and walk to the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and leaving Neige alone out in the hall.

I look at myself in the mirror, noticing that there's blood trickling down from my nose.

"God dammit." I say as I reach for the toilet paper. This is actually my first ever nosebleed; I've never had one for any reason leading up to this point. Just touching my nose makes me wince in pain. As I clean myself up, I also look at my eye, which feels extremely sensitive right now. I can see a little swelling and a little bit of bruising underneath it. Don't tell me this is my first black eye, too.

* * *

I didn't really spend the day doing anything, but before I knew it, the sun had started setting and evening had already crept its way across the world. I climb the stairs up to the hallway of the second floor. As I approach the double doors of me and Skye's room, I hear her scream from behind them. What the hell is this? I burst in through the doors to see Skye, in nothing but her panties and bra, along with Luna, wearing nothing but a pair of panties. Luna's embracing Skye from behind, one hand on one of her breasts and the other in her panties. Luna's tail wags furiously as she caresses Skye with both hands. Another scream billows from Skye. I stand there, dumbfounded, in the doorway, trying my damnedest to stop the stupidest fucking grin from spreading across my face.

"Am I interrupting something?" I ask, leaning against the door frame with my arms crossed.

"DON'T LOOK!" Skye screams at me.

I bring up my hand and cover my eyes, spreading my fingers apart just enough to see what's going on.

"I'M SERIOUS!" Skye says, as she collapses to the ground under the force Luna's forcing on her. That doesn't stop Luna from continuing, however. It doesn't even stall her.

I hear Skye let out a small moan and I almost burst out laughing. I'm trying my best to keep the dam from breaking, though.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"I don't know, babe, It's kinda funny." I laugh.

"HELP ME, YOU ASS!"

"Yeah, yeah."

I walk over to the two and grab Luna, pulling her off of Skye. Only on problem with that, though. As I grab and pull her, I hear a loud moan come from the wolf-girl and it dawns on me just _where_ I just grabbed. I immediately let her go, dropping her to the ground, and put my hands in the air.

"Nope!" So much nope!

I step over her body, now in between her and Skye.

"Master," I hear Luna say. Something about her voice is different. I don't even finish turning around to face her before she immediately pounces on me, rubbing herself against me. "Mate with me!" she yells as she tackles me to the ground.

Okay, I was not prepared for that!

I manage to roll over, despite Luna being on top of me. When I do so, however, she just presses down on me harder, rubbing her breast and vagina on whatever part of my body they may be touching. I don't know if I should be enjoying this right now, because it's a little hard to force myself not to. Oh, the opportunities I sacrifice for my relationship. I reach around for anything I can get ahold of, but there's nothing on the ground. _Then_, I see Luna's frantically waving tail. That could work. I reach out and grab the tail just as it swings to my right, gripping it strongly and giving it a good pull, not enough to hurt Luna though.

Luna moans loudly and her back arches when I pull her tail. Definitely _not_ the intended effect, but it gets the job done. I recognize my opening and kick the wolf-girl-in-heat off of me. I grab the red fleece off of the bed and quickly toss it over her, encompassing her in it, before grabbing her and holding her tightly. She writhes around for a while before settling down. Once she's calmed down, I finally let her go, and she collapses to the ground, still awake but out of energy.

"Well, that was a thing." I say as I rise to my feet, scratching my head.

"I saw that." Skye says.

"Where you grabbed her."

"Oh, fuck you." I say as I collapse onto my back on the me and Skye's double-bed.

"I just got outta the shower; I was putting on my 'pajamas' and she just jumped me. It was horrible."

"Then how do you explain that wet spot?" I say, sitting up for a few seconds as I point to the crotch of her panties.

"Th-that's water!" Skye yells as I start laughing my ass off.

Bullshit.

"Master..." I hear Luna say, her tone of voice back to normal now. "I need a new shirt to wear; Skye's is too tight."

"How the hell is her shirt too tight? You're smaller than her!"

"Around the chest..."

Now, the dam really breaks as I bust out laughing so hard that, by the end of it, I'm gasping for oxygen.

"Fuck you." Skye says to me.

"Love you, too, babe."

I stand up and walk to the closet next to my bed.

"Here," I toss one of my smaller button-downs at Luna. "I rarely wear it anymore, 'cause it's getting too small for me." I lie back down on the bed. "I'm going to sleep."

"Nuh-uh," Skye says. "Not in here. Tonight you're on the couch. I'm still mad at you. In fact, why am I even talking to you right now?"

Really? Fucking really? Okay, this would've passed on Earth, but-given the circumstances of living in this world-the situation is changed entirely.

"Are you fucking kidding me right now?" I sit up. "Are you seriously still being that petty, here especially?"

"Oh, so I'm petty now?!"

"You know what? _Yes_, Skye. Yes the fuck you are." Skye looks at me, offended and angry. I stand up from the bed. "Skye, what you don't realize about this life is that this is a world where you're gonna be afraid to walk out of your front door because you don't know whether or not you'll walk back in it at the end of the day! God knows how much time either of us have left in this world with every other goddamn creature we encounter trying to fucking kill us! Hell, I-and an entire village along with me-got attacked yesterday while I out; that's why I didn't come back until today, because I was lucky to have come back at fucking all! I could've left yesterday, and never have come back, disappeared from the face of the Earth without a trace, with no way to track me, no way for you to know what happened or where to even start looking for me, and-here's the kicker-no certainty of whether I was even dead or not. So tell me, Skye, is _this_ really how you want to spend whatever time the two of us may have left together, being caught up on petty grudges?! Is that the life you want to live? Is that the last memory that you want to have with me, bitching at me for some small shit?! Because, if you keep going on like this, that's _exactly_ how it'll end between the two of us."

Skye has tears in her eyes. And for good reason; I've never exploded on her like this. God knows what she's feeling right now.

"You know what? I'll give you what you want tonight," I craft another bed and place it, taking the fleece blanket and pillow off of it. "In hopes that this blows over tomorrow."

As I open the door to leave the room, I hear behind me a small, "Jordan..."

"Good night, Skye." I shut the door behind me.

* * *

I hit a button on my watch and the numbers on it light up blue, the only light in the darkness of the living room. 2:17 AM. I haven't even gotten remotely close to falling asleep yet. In all honesty, I feel bad for just shitting on Skye like that, but it was something that had to be done. At some point, she had to to just move past the small shit that may happen between us, because you never know when one of us may lose the other, and I'd prefer to be on good terms if something like that were to happen. I can't imagine what it'd be like if one of us died while we were mad at each other. I imagine it'd just eat away at you. You'd regret everyday how you acted in your final moments with the other person, and you'd never forgive yourself for it. I don't think a day would go by where you wouldn't think of it.

"Fucking hell." I sit up, resting my head in my hands.

* * *

"Why didn't you tell me about Luna being in heat?" I ask.

"We saw that you'd find out in your own way." Notch says. "And frankly, it was fun to watch." When I first showed up here, Notch was the more serious type, always about business. As time's passed, he's become more and more loose and informal.

"Was it fun to watch my relationship problems, too?" I cross my arms.

"Not so much." Jeb says. "You two are really on and off with each other. Was it like that before?" he asks.

"No-I mean, yeah, we had our differences, but we'd never actually have a heated argument, or is this case one wouldn't just give the other shit like this. We never had any problems like we do here, and, honestly I'm scared. I'm scared of what this world is doing to us-to our relationship. At this rate, Skye and I as a couple won't last, 'cause it's already going straight down the shitter. I-I just don't know what to do here!"

"Hey, first off, you need to calm down. You won't get anywhere riled up like this."

"I...I don't know. Honestly, I think we both need some time off, away from each other. I think we've both gotta just chill out and just take some time to actually evaluate our relationship before we get into some more serious shit and do something we might regret."

"And what if taking a break is what you regret?" Jeb says.

"Don't rush your thoughts, you'll jump headfirst into something stupid that way." Notch says.

"Maybe..."

* * *

I awaken to a weight pressing down on my midsection.

"What...the hell...?" I think out loud, before my eyes are even fully open

"Good morning, Master." I hear Luna's voice, the same voice I heard last night when I walked in on her and Skye.

Oh fuck!

My eyes snap open. Straddling my waist is Luna, breathing heavily, clad in nothing but the panties and button-down from last night. The button down isn't even buttoned; it's resting on her large bust, exposing a good amount of her bare breasts.

"Lun-" I start, but Luna immediately covers my mouth. "Sshhh...you wouldn't want to wake the others up."

What the hell is happening?!

I start to scream as loud as possible behind her hand and squirm under her, but she's putting an amazing amount of force down. Force that-given her size in comparison to mine-shouldn't even be possible for her to exert.

"Master, you have to be quieter than that..." Luna says as she starts to grind and gyrate her crotch against mine. I can see and even slightly feel the wetness of her panties.

WHAT THE FUCK IS EVEN GOING ON RIGHT NOW?!

Luna lets go of my mouth, but before I can even say anything, she immediately presses her lips against mine, forcing her tongue into my mouth, exploring every part of my mouth with it.

I try to move my arms, but they're pinned behind my back, tied together by something that I can't break or slip out of. FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! If we get walked in on...

WAIT, FANG!

I invoke the silver dragon, but not his sword form, I just animate him. I can feel the small, silver, Chinese dragon struggling to find a way out from under me. I can feel him as he reaches and tugs away at whatever bindings are holding me hostage, but he's too slow! No, this can't be happening!

Throughout all of this, Luna continues her one-sided, tongue-wrestling match in my mouth. Jesus Christ, when does she find time to breathe?!

Wait, that's it! Her tongue!

I'm sorry, Luna, but this is gonna probably hurt a lot. Just as I part my teeth, ready to chomp down on the wolf-girl's tongue, I hear the sound of glass shattering. Luna hears it too, and quickly pulls herself off of my face and looks in the direction of the sound. Past her, I can see the source of the noise. At the bottom of the staircase, looking directly at us, stands Skye, water and what remains of a glass bottle at her feet.

NO! FUCK!


	29. Things Fall Apart

**_Two chapters ago I said I would put a list of the human characters' full names in the next one. But I forgot ._. It'll be at the end of this one._**

* * *

**Chapter 29: Things Fall Apart**

Skye stands before me and Luna, motionless, speechless. She's crying. I can't see the tears from here without my glasses, but I can see her face well enough to tell. And I can't blame her; this sight must destroy her inside. That brings up the golden question in this situation: how much did she see?

I kick Luna off of me; she flips over the arm of the couch onto the ground. As I sit-and then stand-up, I feel the bindings on my wrists snap. I take a single step towards Skye and she immediately bolts. She pushes me back onto the couch and dashes out the door.

"Skye!" I yell after her.

I immediately rise to my feet. I grab my bracelet for Regulus off of the table and grab Fang, who had been hovering next to me. I put them both on as I run to the door.

"Son of a fucking-" I start but am interrupted by Luna, who pounces on me from behind.

"Get the fuck off!" I kick her off of me hard, and as she falls back she hits her head on the wall. Shit, I didn't mean that.

I scramble back to my feet and run out the door after Skye. I saw the general direction she was going, but she's already completely disappeared from sight.

"Motherfucker!" I think out loud as I dash in the same direction she had.

She's been faster than me for-I think-five years. But I've still got the Velocity Raptor's speed buff. If I can find her, I should be able to catch her.

**'Andr.'** I call to her. I don't use our telepathic link as much as I probably could or should.

**'Jordan! Thank Notch; I was about to contact you, but I didn't think you'd respond.'**

**'Andr, I need you to do something for me. Send one of the guys out; tell them where I went, have them morph into a bird, and have them see if they can track Skye in case I can't find her.'**

**'Gotcha.'**

**'Thanks.'**

I run for a minute or so, until I hear footsteps other than my own. I've been hearing the footsteps of mobs, of course, but these ones are different. They're fast, running, something the mobs here don't do under normal circumstances. I tail the sound until Skye comes into view. Considering how far off I heard her footsteps from, she's gotta have heard and still be hearing mine. She's running-as I already knew-but I now see that she's not doing it with any destination in mind, just trying to get away. She'll just keep running if I tail her like this; I need to cut her off, surprise her. She seems to be running linearly enough for what I plan on doing to work; lets just hope she keeps it that way.

I fall back a bit, letting her gain some distance from me, before going off to the side, far enough to the point that I no longer hear her footsteps. Once I'm far enough away, I start running at top speed again. I run until-as far as I can tell-I'm in front of her. I'd estimated about how long I'd have to run to catch up with and pass her. She should be coming up on me any time now.

As predicted, I hear her footsteps behind me off to the side. I stop running and turn around, seeing her from a distance. She doesn't know I'm ahead of her, so she shouldn't notice me. I hide behind a nearby tree and wait. As her footsteps approach, they also slow down, stopping entirely a bit short of my current spot. I hear a small thud a second or two after. It makes sense that she's out of energy; she did run track and cross country and shit in high school, but she's been sprinting nonstop for a few minutes. It had to take a toll on her body at some point; fatigue should've started-and most likely did start-wearing her down a little bit ago, but I guess she stubbornly refused to stop running. I'm tired too, but not to her extent; the Velocity Raptor have a stamina buff along with its speed one.

I step out from behind the tree and Skye recoils in surprise. She scrambles to her feet to run, but I grab her wrist. She tries to break me, but this time I don't let her like I normally do; I'm not letting her get away until we talk about what happened and come to some sort of understanding.

"Skye-" I start.

"Let go of me!" she cuts me off without hesitation.

"No! Not until we talk!"

"You," she turns to me, ad expression of anger on her face, but tears of sadness welled up in her eyes. "You're such a shitbag!"

I know.

Skye lashes out to smack me; I could dodge it, but, for her, I let it hit.

"There you go! Hit me! Beat my ass if it'll make you feel better!"

Skye lets herself fall back to the ground, kneeling and facing away from me.

"It won't." she says, quieting down a little.

"Skye..." I let her arm go.

"You...you leave with Cupa for a day, you make me worry about you. Then you almost kill me. Then you leave _again_. Then when you come back again, you spend your time with another girl instead of coming to see me."

"I left because you were mad; I didn't think you would want me to be around you."

"Then-oh, then-at the start of the very next day, this shit is the first thing you do!"

In an instant, Skye spins around and smacks me again. I can see the tears that were streaming down her face.

"Skye, that wasn't my fault." I say. I dare not raise my voice; that'd only escalate things further.

"I know what I saw, Jordan!"

"Then tell me, what exactly _did_ you see?"

"You and Luna! You...kissing!"

"Skye, that w-"

"Stop. I don't want to hear it."

Skye kneels there in silence for a while, and I eventually take a seat behind her.

"Jordan," she finally speaks up. "I can't do it."

What?

I can feel a lump form in my throat.

"What do you mean?"

Skye sits in silence.

"Skye!" I raise my voice with her, something I didn't expect myself to do. "What do you mean; what can't you do?!"

I stand up and walk around her to face her front.

"This, Jordan! You! _Us!_ I-I just can't deal with it! This is too fucking much for me!"

"No, Skye, you can't mean that..." I say in disbelief.

A growing pain arises in my chest, one I haven't felt in about four months now, since Skye moved back on Earth.

"You-you don't mean that, right?" I ask, now quieter.

"Jordan, I'm sorry, I can't be with you. You're not the same person that you were before we ended up here; you changed."

"Yeah..."

We both have.

"But..." I choke out, but can't even find the words finish it.

"Jordan, please," Skye says through her tears. "Don't make this any harder for either of us than it already is."

I fall to my knees, then completely to the ground, and the two of us sit in silence for a little bit. Skye pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head in her arms stare at the ground.

"Go." she says quietly.

I look up, but don't make eye contact.

"Please...go...just...leave me alone..." she says, each word boring its own hole into my heart.

"Skye," I look at her. "I-" I was gonna say I can't do that, but cut myself off after seeing her face. "If I'm to leave, tell me one thing."

Skye averts her gaze.

"Look at me." I say sternly, and she-unexpectedly enough-obeys. I look her directly in the eyes. "Be completely honest. No games, none of those tests that girls do, be completely straight with me. Do you really want me to go?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to leave? Be honest with not only me, but with yourself. If the answer is yes, I'll get up and walk away right now. I can't really say for sure what happens if the answer is no, but we'll figure it out from there."

Skye looks at the ground, remaining still and silent for a minute or so, before finally speaking up.

"Yes..."

That response only makes the pain in my heart surge.

I stand up, take a deep breath in, and let out a heavy sigh.

"Okay."

Might as well retain my dignity and decency as a man and not take this any further.

"Skye," I say, my back turned to her. "I'm sorry."

_**(Third Person POV)**_

Jordan had started to walk back in the direction of the house, but didn't make it all the way there before stopping. He'd stopped somewhere in the middle of the forest. He presses his head against a tree, leaning on it with his eyes closed.

Unbeknownst to him, Raphael approaches him, having just demorphed back to human form after landing in bird form. The Asian reaches a hand on and puts it on Jordan's shoulder. Jordan reflexively spins around, arm extended and fist clenched, ready to hit the person behind him. His fist freezes a mere inch away from Raphael's face. He could see the fear on his face just before his hand stopped.

"Jesus Christ, chill the fuck out." Raphael says.

Jordan turns back toward the tree and leans his head against it again, his eyes open this time.

"Andr sent you, I assume?" he comments.

"Yeah."

"You saw?"

"Part of it."

"How much?"

"From just before Skye said she couldn't do it onwards."

Jordan doesn't respond. He just stands against the tree in silence. The entire situation is uncomfortable for Raphael in several ways. Jordan is more of the happy-go-lucky type of person; you don't see him in a mood like this normally. He tends to be more cheerful, with no reason to be sad. And his silence leaves tension in the air.

"Hey, do me a favor?" Jordan speaks up after a minute.

"Sure."

"Follow her. Make sure she stays out of any trouble, and if she does, help her out."

"Will do."

Jordan returns to his eerie silence

"Hey, dude-" Raphael puts his hand on Jordan's shoulder again.

"Don't bother," Jordan removes the hand from his shoulder. "I'll be fine. And we both know you're shit when it comes to consoling people." He turns around, a small smile now on his face, before stuffing his hands into his pockets and walking away in silence.

Raphael morphs back to bird form and takes flight in the direction of Skye, completely unaware of the anguish that slipped past him behind that forced smile.

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

I open the front door to the house and all is still, not something that happens around here on a normal day. Even the animals, who normally cause a good amount of commotion, are quiet, as if they know something serious went down. As I walk in, immediately in my field of vision is Luna sulking on the couch. She perks up a little when she sees me. As I walk toward the couch she begins to stand, and as I pass it I push her back down onto it. All the while I don't do so much as even make eye contact.

I walk upstairs to me and Skye's room, avoiding talking to or even looking at anyone. Once inside, I sit on the bed and drop my head into my hands. I feel something set itself in my lap, and I look down to see Draco. I haven't really been spending much time with the Komodo Dragon, or any of the other animals for that matter. Under normal circumstances, his weight would be nothing more than an encumbrance on me, but this time I welcome it. As I run my hand along his reptilian hide, a small smile finds its way onto my face, this time real. I've always enjoyed the company of animals.

I hear the door open and turn my head to see Andr standing in the doorway.

"I've got something for you." She tosses me a scrap of some type of material that I can't see any of the details of from here..

I catch the scrap and look at it closely. My eyes widen when I discover just what it just.

"That's what was around your wrists. It's-"

"Spider silk..." I finish her statement, looking at the silk in disbelief. Of all the people, _she_ was the one who caused this?!

"I just thought you might want to know." Andr says as she walks out of the door frame.

I sit there for the next minute or so before standing up and walking to the closet across from me. I'm in nothing but my tank top and gym short, my usual pajamas-if you can even call them that, that is. I forage through the top drawer for an outfit until I find something suitable. I pull out a random t-shirt and a pair of black jeans.

"Master..." I hear Neige's voice. "Are...are you okay?"

I turn around to see Neige sitting on her bed on the other side of the room. How long has she been in here? Was she here the entire time? If so, how the hell did I miss her when I walked in?

I offer no words, just pull out my BoS hoodie and shut the drawer.

"Master..." Neige says again.

I start walking towards the door.

"Master!"

I stop. Neige has never yelled at me.

"Master," she stands up and walks towards me. When she reaches me, she slowly wraps her arms around me and presses her head against my chest. "What happened? You're not being yourself."

I slowly return the hug.

"I...I'm fine, Neige. I just need time."

"What happened when you ran out?"

"I really don't want to talk about it. Ask Andr; I'm sure she'd be obliged to fill you in."

"Where is Miss Skye?"

You...don't have to call her that anymore.

"She'll probably be out for a while."

I pull out of the hug and leave the room.

"Master, where are you going?" Neige asks.

"To take a shower." I respond without turning around.

After that, anywhere but here.

* * *

I exit the bathroom and start walking back to my room. I don't know how long I was in there, but I just hope Skye isn't back just yet. All I know is that my watch says it's 10 AM. I open the door and see Luna and Neige in their respective areas of the room. Neige is by her bed and Luna is by me and Skye's. Once again, Luna begins to perk up when I walk into the room. Her tail starts to wag. I say nothing and just glare at her for a second before walking to my clothes. Needless to say, she isn't so perky afterwards.

I'd already gotten my jeans on, and as I throw on my shirt, Neige speaks up. "Andr told us all what happened. Will you be okay?"

I turn around to her.

"I'll be fine. I'm not gonna hang myself or anything stupid; I just need time." Away. But I won't worry her with that.

I put my hoodie on and pull the sleeves up to almost my elbows, just how I like it.

"Hey," I hear a voice in the doorway; the last voice I wanted to hear right now. "How ya holdin' up?"

I turn to face Ana.

"Take a guess." I say.

"Whoa, why the hostility? I get that some shit just went down with Skye, but we're still friends, right?"

I pick the silk up off of the bed and present it to her.

"Anything to say?"

Ana looks at the scrap of silk and her entire demeanor changes.

"Shit, Jordan, I-I can explain!"

Those are the exact words I was expecting her to say.

"Save it, I don't want to hear any of your bullshit." I ball up the thick strip of non-sticky silk and walk past her.

"Jordan, please!" Ana grabs hold of my arm. "You have no idea how sorry I am for what happened! Please tell me, what can I do to make it up to you? I'll do anything, and I'm completely serious when I say that! There's nothing I wouldn't do to make you not be mad at me anymore!"

I look at the spider girl and see her red eyes ready to overflow with tears.

"You want to know what you can do?" I clench the silk ball in my hand. "Why don't you go fuck yourself?" I throw the ball at her, hitting her in the face, before ripping my arm from her grip.

I walk down the stairs to the front door and kneel down as I start to put my shoes on.

"Where are you going?" Cupa asks.

"Out." I respond.

"_Where_, Jordan?"

"Somewhere that isn't here."

I stand up and Cupa grabs onto my arm, holding it with both arms against her body.

"Please, don't go."

I look at her solemnly and let out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry." I say as I slowly pull my arm from her embrace. I can't stay here for now; Skye wouldn't want to see my face whenever she returns.

I'm on my way out the door when I see her teary, amber eyes. I can't bring myself to go with her like this. God dammit.

I let out another heavy sigh before giving the creeper girl an unexpected hug.

"My birthday's in four days," I whisper in her ear. "I'll be back by then."

I let her go and see a small smile on her face. I ruffle her hair before walking out the door, not really headed in any direction.

**'Andr.'**

**'Yeah?'**

**'Do me a favor and don't come after me.'**

**'I can't promise I won't.'**

**'I'm serious, Andr.'**

**'Yeah, yeah.'**

**'Oh, and one more thing.'**

**'What?'**

**"Tell Neige I said goodbye for now.'**

I pull my hood up and stuff my hands in my pockets as I walk.

* * *

It's now the fifth of August, three days since Skye broke up with me and I left the manor, and merely one day left until my eighteenth birthday. After I left, I'd wandered the world for a while, with nowhere really to go. I'd considered going back to the village, but then it'd be too easy to find me. Eventually, I left the Overworld altogether. I knew Andr was bound to follow me, so I needed to do as much as I could to counteract that. I traveled through several dimensions using the ant colonies I'd started collecting. Having them on hand is way more convenient and time-saving than searching for an ant to take you wherever you're trying to go. I traveled directly from dimension to dimension, trying to buy as much time from Andr as possible just in case she does take to trying to find me. The dimension-hopping technique's worked thus far, so I can't complain.

Now, I'm sitting in my temporary house in the Utopia dimension. I'd made sure to get a good distance away from any Golden Ore trees in the process. I didn't even make this house, in all honesty; wasn't really in the mood. I spawned it in with an instant shelter and-I've gotta admit-it's not bad. I had to get Notch and Jeb to specially create me a bed that won't explode if I touch it, as well as giving me a toilet, shower, other bathroom things, and anything I would need other than food and clothes, because I have clothes and can get my own food. I also had to make several maps for each of the dimensions, and mark this spot on the map for this one so I know where my base is when I get back from dimension-hopping. But my days here are coming to an end. I'm gonna have to go back to the manor soon; I promised Cupa I'd be back by tomorrow, after all. Maybe I shouldn't have done that, but what's done is done, I guess.

It's currently about 10:30 AM and I just finished showering, getting dressed, and eating the bacon I'd cooked for breakfast. Herobrine implemented the OreSpawn mod presumably with the intent of it killing me, but without it I wouldn't have bacon, so that's something to thank him for. I lie on my back on my bed with my watch in my hands. It's been a while since I last calibrated it, so I took it upon myself to do that now. I use the clock on my phone as the more accurate and legitimate time and adjust my watch accordingly.

One thing that surprises me is the sound of an Enderman warping. I immediately sit up and see Andr standing before me with her arms crossed and a mischievous smile on her face. Son of a bitch.

I stand up and, just as I open my mouth to speak, Andr presses her lips against mine. Her arms are locked tightly around me and I can feel her tongue wriggling around inside my mouth. Something about this kiss feels...off... It's making me slightly lightheaded.

I push Andr off of me and, before I can do or say anything, she speaks up.

"And now," she raises her arm, pointing at me with two fingers. "You sleep."

With the flick of her wrist, I instantaneously feel an intense pounding in my head before I black out seconds later.

* * *

_**Name list:**_

_**Jordan Emmett**_  
_**Skylar "Skye" Augustine**_  
_**Raphael Torres**_  
_**Jason Ford**_  
_**Jared Jones**_  
_**Shawn Frost**_


	30. Inhibition

_**I'm not dead, and neither is this story. I do sincerely apologize for the extremely long hiatus, but I'm back now, and have what I think is the longest chapter to date!**_

* * *

**Chapter 30: Inhibition**

_**(Third Person POV)**_

"He's out; you can come in now." Andr says.

"Why'd you have to...to kiss him?" Cupa says as she walks in. "Couldn't you have done it another way?"

"Sure, I could have done it entirely mentally, but there's two problems with that: our mental link can't be obstructed-meaning we'd have to be in the same dimension from the start of the process to the finish-and it'd take a few days of subliminal suggestion, which we already lost trying to find him."

Cupa looks down, pouting. She understands why Andr did what she did, but that doesn't mean she likes it.

"How exactly does this work? What did you do?" she asks, looking up at the endergirl.

"I'm putting subliminal suggestions into his mind as we speak. When he wakes up, he'll be conscious of what'll happen, but he won't think of it the same way as he would other. Not until it's over, that is. He won't see much wrong with it during the act, but the suggestions' effect goes dormant after the event. Don't worry, he won't have a problem with doing what he will."

Cupa looks down, contemplating.

"Don't look so pitiful. You knew what we were here to do when you chose to come with me." Andr says, annoyed.

"It just doesn't feel right." Cupa carps.

"Yet you still agreed to coming."

"How do you know this'll work?"

"It's worked twice now." Andr's widen for a second after she realizes what she just said.

"Wait, what?"

"Shit, I wasn't supposed to say that!"

"What do you mean it's worked twice?" Cupa asks insistently.

"Guess it's about time I told somebody." Andr runs her hand through her hair, something she'd picked up from Jordan, before fixing her bangs back into place. "I did this to him before. However, it was the longer process I mentioned earlier. It worked just fine though; with the spider and the blaze."

"You mean...he...with Ana and Blazette...?"

"Yeah," Andr crossed her arms. "But, oddly enough, he resisted some better than others. I tried a few times after the blaze, but the suggestions never triggered; his subconscious put up a fight, and he didn't go through. I just strengthened the suggestions that were already in his brain.

"What exactly _is_ the 'trigger?'"

"When someone is coming onto him, sexually that is. Once he picks up on what the hints entail, and-whether consciously or subconsciously-if he finds the person suitable, the suggestions I planted kick in, and the chains of his inhibitions cease to bind him. Without anything to hold him back, he loses the ability to hold himself back.

Cupa looks at the ground.

"So, we're taking advantage of him..."

"In a matter of speaking, yes."

"But why?!"

"Because, Cupa! Because I want to live as a human! I want to live a human life, and give birth to a human! I don't want to end up the way the king and the rest of my council want me to! I want to live my life the way I want to; to become my own person! And I know you feel the same way!"

Cupa says nothing.

"I'm doing this with or without you. Even if you turn back now, I'm not. This is something I have to do."

"But Andr," Cupa speaks up. "He's not with Skye anymore. There's no reason he wouldn't take part if you were up front about what you want. If _we all_ were..."

"But there is. I know how he feels; he can't exactly hide his thoughts from me. I know his feelings for Skye haven't changed. He's actually planning to get back together."

Cupa's teeth cringe at the thought, not from disgust or anger, but because what she just heard hurt.

"So I ask now, are you in or out?"

"I...I'll do it..."

As she finishes that statement, Jordan starts to groan and get up. He rises to his feet and opens his eyes. Cupa gasps in shock when she sees them. His irises are glowing a bright purple.

"It's time." Andr says, her eyes glowing the same purple as Jordan's.

* * *

**_(Jordan's POV)_**

I rise to my feet, a recurrent, severe pounding in my head. My vision is clouded in a bright purple. I hear something hit the floor before feeling a hand push my back down a mere second later. Whatever hit the ground mustn't have been very heavy, because the sound wasn't very loud and the impact sounded considerably light. In fact, it sounded kinda like...a coat or a jacket... I feel like I know what's happening...

My vision fades in to Andr leaning over me, missing her jacket and a shirt. She does have a bra on, though, so that's good. I'm not too surprised in all honesty, but from what I can see her breasts are moderately small-maybe a b-cup. I could-and probably would-freak out under normal circumstances, but, given the overall situation I'm in, it's more of a nuisance than a surprise.

"Why?" I ask.

"You've neglected me-no, _us_-for so long..." Andr starts.

I look over her shoulder and see Cupa standing stiffly, her arms behind her back and her gaze...eluding.

"Held down by the bonds of your girlfriend," Andr continues. "But that bond's been severed. You're no longer in the chains and shackles of your relationship." Andr reaches behind her and unhooked her bra. It falls right into my lap. "You can do whatever you want. With, or _to_, _whoever_ you want."

Andr gently grabs my hand and brings it up to rest on one of her breasts.

"You know," I pull my hand away and snake my arms around her, pulling her in just a bit closer. "You're actually right. I _am_ a free man now."

"Exactly my point."

Andr punctuates that statement by pressing her lips against mine again. I have no qualms, and accept it. Meanwhile, my hands roam up and down Andr's body, caressing several different areas. The most satisfying moments are when I find a sweet spot, and Andr jumps a little when I touch it. At one point, Andr stops and turns around, facing Cupa.

"You can jump in, or you can find your way back home. Make your choice now."

I look past Andr to see Cupa standing uncomfortably. From what I can tell, she's breathing heavily, and her legs are shifting back and forth. She looks like a little kid that has to pee. _Really_ bad. Andr then turns back to me and I return my attention to her as well.

"Well, while she's thinking that out, why don't we get back into it?" She sneaks her hand under my undershirt and runs it across my stomach, caressing my abdominals. All the while, she slowly gyrates in my lap, grinding her ass against my crotch in slow circles. I can feel the blood pumping quickly through my heart, and flowing downward somewhere else for that matter.

I hear a small "ahem" come from Cupa, and look over to see her standing closer now, clad in nothing but her panties, just like Andr. I'm a bit astonished at the sight of her petite figure, but it's not exactly...repulsive. If I wasn't "excited" enough already, that sure got me there.

And Andr must have felt it, too, because her eyes widen for a second before she exclaims, "I won't lose to her!"

Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?

Andr grinds against me harder and faster, challenging Cupa, I guess. She also leans in and locks lips with me again, kissing me furiously. She pushes her tongue around the inside of my mouth, wrestling mine with intensity. She breaks away to breathe, and Cupa takes the chance to make her move. She presses her lips against mine too, but nowhere near as intensely as Andr. She kisses me gently, passionately. I can feel the emotion she's putting into it, whereas with Andr, it just feels like she wants to fuck me, which I already know is what she wants. Cupa wraps her arms around my neck, and I can't help but slide mine around her waist.

It's weird, kissing Cupa feels so...natural...so right... I don't know how to explain it. The kiss feels like it last forever, and it deepens every second. I can feel Cupa putting more and more emotion into it until she loses herself in it. Her tongue prods at my teeth, requesting entrance. I open them without a seconds thought and her tongue slides into my mouth, and mine into hers. We continue until our lungs are burning for oxygen, and we have to break away for a breath of air. A long string of our mixed saliva hangs from our mouths. I can even see Cupa panting. Only then do I feel my heart pounding out of my chest.

"Enough of this!" Andr says as she pushes Cupa out of the way. She slides her hand down my abdomen and intone crotch of my boxers. I feel my heart skip a bit as she grabs my manhood. She grips it firmly, but not exceeding the pleasure range. She starts to slowly move her hand up and down the length of it. She grips the head, moving her fingers around for a second, getting a feel of it. "Oh?" she says, commenting on the light layer of precum on it. "Have you been active recently? Because you seem to be primed and ready to go, and I'd imagine there's a bit of buildup. You been saving up for a bigger release or something?"

"I haven't exactly been in the mood as of late, Andr." I remark.

"Well I'd say it's about time that this pent-up pressure got released, huh?"

"I kind of already knew you were going there, so do what you will."

Andr slides backwards off of me and onto her knees on the floor in front of me, and Cupa kneels down next to her. Andr unbuttons my jeans and pulls them down, along with my boxers, exposing my erect penis to the both of them. I see Andr's eyes widen in shock, presumably at the size of it. She'd undoubtedly seen it in my memories since she seems to be looking through those half the time, but I guess seeing it for herself, with her own eyes, would make for an entirely different experience. Cupa looks at it in several different ways, shock, excitement, fear, you name it. She can't seem to avert her eyes from the sight of my dick.

After a second or two, Andr recovers from her initial shock, and wastes no time putting it into her mouth. She bobs her head up and down the shaft, and runs circles around the head with her tongue. She seems pretty experienced with this. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. Either way, it does feel good so I don't think I'll dwell on that for now.

As Andr is doing what she's doing, Cupa climbs onto the bed and presses her lips against mine again. This time she's a bit more assertive, going for it with none of her previous sheepishness. She also waits less time before involving her tongue. I feel like she's losing herself in the act. She's almost a whole other person. I end up entranced in the kiss as well, until I suddenly feel a pleasure spike in my lower half. I'd almost forgotten about Andr. I'm just now noticing how close I am.

"Andr, I-"

Just as I'm about to reach the breaking point, Andr stops.

WHAT THE FUCK?! Aside from stopping just as I'm about to cum, how the hell did she kn-our link. Of course she knows. How couldn't she? She's probably reading my thoughts now, too. They probably aren't safe until one of us leaves this dimension.

"Enough fucking around." I get up. I grab Andr pull her in close, wrapping one arm around her waist and planting the other firmly on her ass. She kisses me as she grabs my dick again, pumping her hand up and down it. At the same time, I pull the crotch of her panties aside and slip two fingers into her vagina, making her jump a little, and moan a lot. She did jump, but not to the point where either of us stop what we're doing. We go at it for a while until the two of us cum. Having been close when we started, I came faster, and Andr happily licks the semen off of her hand when I do. Then, she grabs the collar of my tank top and backs into a nearby wall, pulling me with her.

Andr lifts one of her legs and I grab it to hold it up as I position my manhood at her vagina. I thrust into her, and she moans deeply. After the first one, my hips start to move on their own, going deeper, harder, and faster with each thrust in and out of her. Andr lifts both legs off of the ground, wrapping them around my lower back, and wraps her arms around my upper back, digging her nails into it. Each thrust knocks the her hard against the wall, but she doesn't even seem to notice in all the pleasure. I must admit, it does feel amazing; I can't even control myself. Andr's erratic moans don't help, only turning me on more and making me go even more intensely. This goes on and on until I feel a familiar pressure building up in my dick.

"I-I'm cumming!" I pant.

"Me too!" Andr says. "Please, inside. Do it inside."

I just nod and continue thrusting until one last, particularly deep thrust, where I unload a good amount of pent-up sperm into her. As she said, she also cums, spraying her love juices all over my dick. I pull out when the climax subsides and Andr slides down the wall onto the floor, panting heavily with my semen leaking from her vagina. I feel something tugging at the back of my tank top and turn around to see Cupa standing there waiting for me. When I look at her, she starts to back to the bed, lying herself on it when she reaches it. She hesitantly opens her legs, blushing, before pulling her panties to the side and spreading the lips of her vagina with two fingers. With her panties pulled to the side, I can see a light patch of orange hair above her vagina. She gives me a scared smile.

"Don't smile to make me feel better about what I'm about to do." I approach her. "Focus on being ready, yourself."

I drop to my knees in front of her and place both hands against her inner thighs, spreading her legs a little further. Looking at her vagina, I realize how heavy my breath is. It's there, ready and waiting for me. I'm staring into Cupa's innocence, her womanhood. Her pussy. I have a love-hate relationship with that word. I can feel my heart pounding; despite this being far from my first time, for some reason, I'm just as nervous as if it was. Well, we're already this far; no point in turning back now. I've got her like this, so I gotta do _something_. I start to lightly kiss her thigh, each kiss the next one of a trail leading up to her vagina. I trail up the inner thigh, trace around her pussy-not making any contact with the actual vagina itself, but just far enough away-and make my way down the opposite thigh. Cupa squirms slightly as I perform this act-particularly as my lips approached her lower ones-but squirms even more as I go away from it. After I'm done teasing her, I stick my tongue in. Cupa jumps and I stop.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Y-yeah, that just-oh Notch." Cupa exhales hard.

I stick my tongue back in, and Cupa flinches. I pull it out and run it along the entire left side of her pussy. Cupa spasms in reaction. She moves her hand from spreading her pussy to balancing herself on the bed. Okay, she's a bit too jumpy for this. We're downgrading to the basics, I guess. I crawl up onto the bed and turn her body so it's parallel to the bed's length instead of going across its width. I climb on top of her, my face hovering just above hers, which is shrouded with a vibrant red. She grabs my face and kisses me passionately, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck. Meanwhile, I slide my hand down the length of her body. I trail past her small breasts, down her slender stomach, and stop in between her thighs. Now seeing-and touching-it, I realize that I really like Cupa's petite figure. I've always been more a fan of the smaller, more petite girls than ones with overcompensating curves. I rest my hand on her pussy. She squirms and moans lightly as I rub it. Her back arches as I squeeze her clit. She falls back onto the bed, breathing heavily.

By now, her pussy's wet enough to move on. I crawl down to her crotch area and rise to a kneeling position. I then lift her legs and rest them against my shoulders, and position myself at her entrance. Now I stand at a borderline that there's no going back from. I can feel how heavy my breathing is, and how hard my heart is pounding. Why the hell am I so anxious about this? I've had sex several times before.

"You...you ready?" I ask Cupa.

Cupa gives a nod, one hand covering her mouth. Her face is still just about as red as whenever I'm around her in a normal situation.

"You want me to go in fast, or take it slow?" I question her.

"Please, just...get it over with..." Cupa closes her eyes and looks away. I can see her body tense up. That won't make it any better. I crawl back to being face-to-face with her, though she isn't looking. I cup the creeper girl's face in my hand, and her eyes open in surprise and confusion. I turn her head to face me, and, for a second, I get serious déjà vu when I look at her. I look into her eyes, and she into mine, before slowly leaning down and locking lips passionately. As our lips touch, her body relaxes. Something about her seems so...familiar, but I can't manage to put my finger on it.

I revert back to kneeling and position myself again.

"You want me to get it over with fast, right?" I look at her.

"Please." She gives a nod.

"Okay," I stick the head of my dick into her pussy. "Brace yourself. This is gonna hurt. _A lot_."

At that, I thrust into her. I don't go all the way-I doubt she's ready for the full length just yet-but I go more than enough to break the hymen. Cupa's back arches, she grits her teeth, her eyes widen, and tears stream down the sides of her face. I'd pull out, but I dare not move. She settles and we stay in this position for a while.

"You okay to go?" I ask.

Cupa whimpers and gives a nod.

"Alright..." I take a deep breath in and out. Then, I start to slowly move my hips, thrusting in and out of her pussy. She whimpers with every thrust inward. It's...tight, like, _really_ tight. Tighter than I remember Skye's as having been on her first time. It feels amazing, but, thinking of the pain Cupa must be in, I can't really enjoy it. I'm enjoying it on a bodily level, but not on a conscious one. Just like me and Skye's first time. Regardless, I continue to thrust, and Cupa eventually stops whimpering, and starts to move her body into it. At that, I start to go faster, and so does she to match my speed. We quickly work a rhythm between the two of us. Cupa doesn't take long to start moaning. Every few seconds, I hear, "Ahn~" or something similar to it.

Andr climbs onto the bed and takes a seat. The thing that gets me is _where_ she chose to sit. She climbed onto the bed kneeling on both knees, spread her legs, planted herself directly on Cupa's face. I think I can feel my heart beating faster just looking at the scene. I don't know; there's too much going on. There's Cupa's moaning as fuck her, along with Andr's as Cupa eats her out. Then there's seeing the scene itself: I mean, I'm fucking a creeper girl as she eats an endergirl out! What the fuck is even happening at this point?! Nevertheless, I don't stop, stall, or slow as the three of us go at it. I can't focus my mind on anything other than what I'm doing. I just continue thrusting. In and out. In and out. I go faster, harder as time goes on, up until I feel myself reaching my climax, and the pressure is oddly abundant this time. I feel like there's _a lot_ more than what I'd normally have stored up.

"Cupa, I-I-!" I start.

"I know, me too!" Cupa says.

I keep thrusting into her. I can't stop. It just feels so damn good.

"Jordan. Inside. Please." Cupa says in between breaths.

"Uh-huh." I nod, and continue to thrust into her until I empty my balls into her. Almost in sync with me cumming, I feel Cupa's vaginal fluid spray onto my dick, and I hear Andr moan intensely as she presumably does the same all over Cupa's face.

As my climax settles, I start to feel lightheaded, then I start to feel a familiar, intense pounding in my head. My body also gets extremely heavy, and my vision starts to blur, making me blink rapidly. I feel like it's been days since I last slept.

"Wh...whathehell...?" My words slur together as my vision blurs into the same purple as when I woke up, and my hearing becomes muffled. All external noise is almost completely deadened by the sound of my own heartbeat. Everything then fades completely to black and all noise silences as I slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

**_(Third Person POV)_**

Cupa sits on her bed, in her room at the manor. Jordan had made a light system of redstone, redstone lamps, and levers, made to resemble light switches on Earth, but Cupa sits in the dark, not wanting to be seen in the light by anyone. It only being midday, she used her bedsheets and blanket to block off the natural light pouring in from the window. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She looks down, peering solemnly at the black hoodie she's currently wearing. Jordan had given it to her after what went down with the Alien in the Mining Dimension. She'd worn it as if it was her own ever since. The longer she looks at it, the more she thinks of him, and the worse she feels. She feels like shit for what she and Andr did in the Utopia Dimension. She didn't feel good about the act going into it, and didn't feel any better coming out.

The door slowly creaks open, and light from the hall starts to pierce the darkness of the room. Standing in the doorway is Andr, leaning against the frame of the door. As the light spreads across the center of the room, Cupa scoots to the side to avoid being caught in it.

"You're seriously sulking about this?" Andr says, pushing the door open wider.

Cupa says nothing, but scoots off of the bed-the light from the hall had completely illuminated it-and into the corner of the room, retaining the "hugging her knees' position. Andr flicks the lever on the wall, and the redstone lamps in the ceiling light up the room. Cupa turns around, now facing the corner.

"Cupa," Andr starts. "Cupa, look at me."

The creeper girl doesn't comply.

"Hey, look, I know you may feel a bit guilty about what happened," Andr walks into the room and shuts the door. "But you only did what you had to. You had to relieve yourself of those...urges, right? Letting them build up only makes the reproductive cycle more unbearable. Believe me, I know." Andr slowly approaches Cupa as she speaks.

Cupa still says nothing.

"Cupa..." Andr reaches a hand out to the creeper girl.

Cupa finally turns around to face Andr, her eyes red and her face stained with dried tears.

"Andr..." Cupa's voice quivers. "Why? Why did we do that to him? Why did we take advantage of Jordan?"

"You know why, Cupa. Our top priority is bearing the child of a human, so that we can continue these human bodies to our later generations. Do you really want to bear creeper children, and be nothing but a blemish on the creeper species? We're a special hybrid of human and mob, Cupa, and I enjoy this body. I want my kids to have bodies like these that they can enjoy too. I-I want them to be human! Not some mindless, instinct-driven wild animal like every other of my damn kind!" Andr gets more heated the longer she goes on.

"I don't care about that!" Cupa retorts. "Who knows what we just did to our relationships with him?! I want to pass these bodies onto our next generations, too, but not like that! That just wasn't right! I don't know why the hell I even let you talk me into doing that!"

"Cupa-!"

"That was rape, Andr! We just raped him! Do you understand that?!"

The two mob girls could get into some serious shit if Skye were home to here that, but, ever since Jordan left, she'd been going out more. Randomly leaving and coming back later at an equally random time, kinda like Jordan would sometimes do.

"But Jordan doesn't know that! To him, he did that with his own free will! To him, that was _his_ choice!"

"But that's the thing; it wasn't his choice! It was _yours_! But you're so damn self-centered that you can't see what's wrong with that! You're so focused on yourself that you can't see how what you do may affect others! If you wanted to do that, you could've built a real relationship with him instead of fucking with his brain and just making him want to fuck you! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A SHALLOW, EGOTISTICAL BITCH!"

At that, Andr becomes enraged. Her eyes glow a bright purple, her nails elongate into sharp, black claws, and her canine teeth become sharp fangs, just like in the fight with the wyvern at the other house. She quickly pounces on Cupa and starts flailing her with attacks. She furiously claws at Cupa's face, aiming for soft, vulnerable spots like her eyes, but does Cupa puts up a fight. She gets a few hits in here and there, but is no true match for Andr. Creepers aren't really attacking mobs.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME OR WHAT I'VE GONE THROUGH IN THIS WORLD! YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT MY LIFE AND THE HELL I'VE BEEN PUT THROUGH TO GET TO WHERE I AM NOW! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT TO TALK TO ME LIKE THAT!" Andr reaches a claw into the air, ready to plunge it deep into Cupa's heart. "I'M SO SICK OF ALL OF YOU GUYS' SHIT! DON'T THINK I HAVEN'T NOTICED HOW YOU ALL AVOID ME, KEEPING YOUR DISTANCE FROM THE WEIRD ENDERGIRL! THE ONE WHO CAN GO FROM CALM AND QUIET TO YOUR WORST FUCKING NIGHTMARE IN HALF A SECOND! WHO CAN KILL YOU WITH LITTLE MORE THAN THE POWER OF HER MIND! YOU ALL ARE JUST LIKE THE REST OF THEM! BUT NOW, I'M FUCKING DONE!"

Cupa instinctively goes on the defensive and begins the creeper's signature detonation process. Her eyes start to glow a vibrant white, and she immediately starts to flash white.

"SAY GOODBYE, C-"

Andr has no time to finish her sentence; the door flies open and she's immediately pelted with a bombardment of high-velocity snowballs. Andr loses her balance, and stumbles backwards, falling hard onto the ground. As soon as she starts to get to her feet again, the rapid-fire snowballs stop, and the endergirl is promptly tackled back to the ground at high speed by Luna.

"GET OFF ME!" Andr warps out of under Luna, appearing next to her. She kicks the wolf girl hard in her stomach, effectively and immediately incapacitating her. She kicks so hard that Luna immediately spits up a mouthful to blood. She raises one clawed hand in the air, about to finish Luna with a single blow, but, when she does so, a thick tuft of sticky spider silk envelops her arm. Ana yanks the rope of silk hard, jerking Andr backward onto the hard wood floor. Before Andr has any time to react, Neige dumps a bucket of water onto her. Andr shrieks in sheer agony, the water severely burning her skin. It causes no physical damage, but the pain is astronomical. She screams and writhes around on the floor for a few seconds, before her eyes roll to the back of her head, and she becomes silent and still.

"Shit, shit, shit! Is she dead?!" Ana runs over to Andr's body. Upon close inspection, her chest is still rising and falling. "Oh, thank Notch." Ana falls to the ground, not having the strength to stand. That moment of weakness doesn't last very long, though. The injured Cupa and more severely injured Luna quickly catch her attention. "Okay, um, Neige! Look through Jordan and Skye's room for anything that heals! I'll look downstairs! And look fast; I don't think Luna'll make it very long with her injuries!"

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

My eyes open slowly to the sight of the ceiling of my temporary house in...whatever the hell dimension I'm in right now; I don't even remember. After a weak attempt to get up, I realize I'm completely drained of all energy. I can't even muster up what it would take to sit up. I turn my head to the left and bring my arm up to my upper body. I can move my arms and head, but not much-if anything-else. I look at my watch for a second, then I realize...it's not there. I didn't put it on yet. I lie on the bed for an indeterminable amount of time-probably a few minutes-staring at the ceiling until I feel like moving. Eventually, I do sit up. And when I do, I realize something: my jeans and boxers are sitting on the floor across the room next to the wall. I don't even remember having taken them off.

"Wait, wha-" I start, but stop as the memories of what I just did come flooding back to me. "Oh... Oh God..."

That's right. Andr and Cupa showed up, and we had sex.

"Shit, shit, shit-"

Then I remember, I came inside of them. Both of them.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK!" I say as I pull my missing clothing on. "I'm such a fucking idiot!" I say as I hit myself in the head repeatedly, hoping to knock some goddamn sense into myself. "What the hell is wrong with me?! Why do I keep doing this?!"

I stand there and bang my head against the wooden wall for a few minutes. I might've done it a little too hard; it hurts and my forehead is sore as hell by the end of it, but I honestly couldn't care less. I can't even stand my own actions. I feel like absolute shit. I feel sick to my stomach, and I kinda want to just die. Hell, maybe it'd be better for Skye that way.

"Oh, shit, Skye!" I say out loud, as if anybody can hear it. I take a seat on the edge of the bed, burying my face in my hands. My heart sinks into my stomach, only adding to my preexisting nausea. I planned on going back to the Overworld today, back to her and all the other, but mainly to her. But I don't even think I can anymore. I don't think I'd be able to face her knowing what I just did. Or better said, I don't want for her to have to face me. I don't want to lie to her anymore, to keep secrets like these, to...betray her like this. God, I'm a shitty human being. I left to give her some distance, some well-needed time out of my presence. I was hoping to go back with her a bit less riled up by me. If all went well, we could probably even get back together. But now I don't even want to do that to her.

"I..." I start, struggling to find the right words. "I'm fucking disgusting. I'm pure fucking scum." I move my hands so they aren't covering my eyes, and I stare at the ground. A few ants scurry around in the grass, perambulating with no discernible pattern or direction. "Here I planned on getting back with her." I fall back onto the bed, now staring up at the ceiling once again. "I really don't deserve her." I laugh lightly, I think hysterically. "She doesn't need to call an asshole like me her boyfriend." I let out a chuckle at my own stupidity. "Of course it wouldn't work out. Why would I think it would? I can't resist temptation, can't stay loyal." I stand up and walk to the "bathroom" section of the house, which consist of a toiler, sink and mirror, and a shower.

I look at myself in the mirror. "You say you love her, that she means everything to you, but then you still go and do this." I talk to the image of me that stands there in the mirror, looking back at me. "You don't even know what love is, do you? You don't really love her."

I...I do.

"You fucking don't."

Yes, I do!

"Face it, Jordan, you're the worst kind of person. The scum of the goddamn Earth-or Minecraftia, in this case."

No. I am _not_.

"You don't deserve someone as real as Skye if you're gonna be as fake as you are."

I...

"You're a shitty, unfaithful, cheating, sex hound. You can't resist the temptation of another girl, despite how you may _think_ you feel toward Skye."

I..._I'm not! _I can be faithful!

"That's what you say, but talk is cheap. Why don't you take a step back and look at your own actions? All the girls you've cheated with in the short time you've been in this world?"

Ana.

Blazette.

Cupa.

Andr.

I...

"Face the facts, Jordan, she doesn't need someone like you."

No... It's not like that!

"All you'll do is hurt her if you keep at it."

No, I won't! I won't let myself!

"All you'll do is cause her pain!'

I-I-!

I'm snapped back to reality by the sound of shattering glass. The mirror in front of my is broken, shattered from the center outwards. The smaller shards fall into the sink beneath it. I look down at my hands to see that they're fidgeting, and the right one is bleeding. The knuckles are cut up bad. I stare at it for a few seconds before returning my attention to the mirror. I see my reflection, refracted, distorted by the severely cracked glass. But I can still see the tears streaming down my face clearly enough. I bring my hands up to my head, clutching the sides and grabbing handfuls of my hair, as I turn my back to the mirror and back into the wall next to it. I can feel the tears sliding their way down my face as I slide my way down to wall until I'm sitting on the ground. I grab my knees and pull them up to my chest, tucking my head into them.

"What's happening to me?!"


	31. Difficulties Coming Home

**Chapter 31: Difficulties Coming Home**

I find myself wandering through a large, grassy plain. I have no specific destination in mind. I'm just letting my legs take me wherever. I continue to trudge past various plains mobs. Cows. Pigs. Horses. The whole nine yards. I've been walking for God-knows-how-long, and my legs are killing me. At some point, I just collapse in the middle of the field, amongst the various animals of the plain. I just lie on my back, staring up at the sky. I end up losing track of time as I watch the clouds float across an ocean of light blue. The only indicator as to how long I've been here is the sun's position in the sky. It hasn't moved very far, so I guess I haven't been lying here for too long. Then, something catches my attention. A sound. The sound of a woman singing. The voice is vaguely familiar, but I can't manage to match it with neither a face nor a name. But I know that, somewhere in the back of my head, I know this voice.

I sit up and look around for the source. I see a woman standing atop a nearly hill. She has long, straight, silver hair that falls down to her upper back. She wears a long, white dress that flows with the breeze that I swear wasn't there before. I can't distinguish the lyrics to the song she's singing, but, from what I can tell, it doesn't sound all too familiar. I stand up and start to make my way toward the woman. As I get closer, the words become clearer, and I confirm that I don't know them. Her voice is extremely familiar, but, no matter how hard I try, I can't put a face or a name to it.

"...on a mission,

To find out inner peace.

Make it everlasting,

So nothing's incomplete.

With every step you take,

Kyoto to the bay,

Strolling so casually.

We're different and the same,

Get you another name.

Switch out the batteries."

I reach out to her, and-as I get within contact distance-she disappears. Her entire body disperses into a cloud of dust, and is blown away on the breeze. My body seems to move on its own, and I find myself grasping for the particles of dust as they float away. I feel my heart ache more and more each time I fail to get a grip on something. And, reaching for dust in the air, it's not like there's much of anything _to_ grab. I fall to my knees, suddenly too weak to even stand. My entire body feels really weak, and my heart feels like it's literally being ripped apart. My attention is so focused on the pain that I can't manage to bring myself to do so much as breathe. I clutch my chest tightly, the pain eating away at me as I struggle to suck up some oxygen.

Just as I feel like I'm gonna pass out, I shoot into an upright position in my bed. I clutch my chest just as I'd done in the dream, and I'm breathing almost just as labored. The only difference is that my heart is racing instead of hurting. What the hell was that dream?! I swear to God, I felt like I was gonna die in real life! I take a minute to let my pulse slow down before crashing back onto the bed and staring up at the ceiling. Various absent-minded thoughts swim around my head as I lie here.

What time is it?

What day is it?

Where am I and what the hell am I doing?

I go on like that for...I don't even know how long. But when I come to my senses, my watch says its 9:47 AM. Today is the sixth, right? I think... I'm pretty sure. August sixth... My birthday... Today's my eighteenth one in specific. It's also the day I promised Cupa I'd come back to the Overworld by. I sit up again, turning so my legs fall over the edge of the bed and my feet hit the floor. The more I think about going back, the less I want to. I don't know how I could face Skye, Andr, or Cupa after what I did yesterday. But I did make a promise to come back by today, and I don't want to hurt the mob girls by breaking it. Especially Neige; Out of all of them, I'd say she's the one I'm closest to. I look at Blazette's gauntlets lying on the ground next to the head of the bed. I didn't exactly pack anything before I left I didn't really need to, since I have easy access to all my clothes by the power of a few wood planks I put into a crafting table. But out of the few extra items I did bring, they were one of the first things I grabbed. They make me feel...not alone, I guess. I don't know how to describe it, but it makes me feel like she's still here with me, just a little. at the least, it does make me feel better. Hell, the thought makes me even start to smile a bit. I stand up. Like I said, I said I'd go back It'd be selfish of me to not go back just because I'd be uncomfortable around the others after what happened. So, for their sakes, I'll suck it up and bear it.

After getting ready, I put on my headphones and scroll through my music playlist. One song that I don't recognize catches my eye. "Rather Be Elephante Remix by Elephante" I've never heard of this and definitely didn't download it, so how the hell did it get on my phone? I play it as I walk away from the house. It takes doesn't take very long to realize that this is the song the silver-haired lady in my dream was singing, and a chill runs down my spine.

* * *

_**(Third Person POV)**_

"So," Ana starts. "do we do with her?"

After the fight yesterday, the mob girls took Andr to her room, and they haven't seen or heard from her since.

"We can't just live here with her with all this tension just hanging in the air." Luna says.

"But we can't kick her out or something like that. That'll bring up too many questions." Neige responds.

"Couldn't we just say she left without telling us anything?" Cupa asks.

"Jordan has access to her memories. He'll know what happened." Ana objects.

"But he won't." Andr's voice comes as she descends the stairs. "I've already sealed them off. They're buried somewhere he can't dig them up." She states as she reaches the bottom of the stairs.

Luna immediately jumps into a defensive stance, growling at the Endergirl. Andr quietly looks around the room with empty, unfeeling eyes. Normally, they're hard enough to read, but now they seem forlorn of any and all emotion. She looks at the face of each fellow mob girl. She looks especially closely at the scratches scattered across Cupa's face. Though they may be healed, the amount present makes them evident. Andr takes a single step before stopping, keeping her distance from the rest of the group.

"I...I'm sorry for what happened yesterday. I try my hardest to maintain my composure and keep a level head. To avoid becoming...that. I hate when I lose my shit because I just know that's what'll happen. I really don't like hurting people, especially the ones I call my friends. I...I just..." Andr stutters, stumbling over her words. She can feel the lump forming in her throat and the tears forming in her eyes as she tries to get the words out. Cupa stands up from the couch, and starts to approach her.

"Please, don't," Andr takes a step back. "I'm a danger to the both of u-" What stops her is Cupa wrapping her arms around the Endergirl. Andr stands there, shocked, for a second, before she loses it. The tears tugging at the edges of her eyes fall over and roll down her face, and she lets out a pained whimper before returning the hug. The two of them stay like that for a little bit, before eventually breaking apart. When they do so, Cupa takes Andr's land and leads her over to the others, where she takes a seat and looks down in silence, too ashamed to look anyone in the eyes.

"I...I think it's about time I told somebody my story..." Andr starts.

* * *

"From the moment I was born I'd been...different from the other Endermen. Of course, there's my body, but that applies to all of us. Above that, there is-or was-the matter of my abilities. Put simply, I was complete shit with them, but I'll get back to that in a bit. The immediate thing that sets me apart from the rest of you, though, is how my human appearance was perceived, the foundation of and driving force behind my entire life. Instead of it being seen as a sort of blessing, instead of becoming popular, and well-liked and damn-near royalty because of it, I was mocked, ridiculed, physically and emotionally harassed, and worse. I could list things off forever.

As it turns out, along with me being born with a human body, my mother also died from my birth, and my father-who was a human-was said to have been cast into the Void, so there wasn't anyone else there for me. The Endermen, of course, didn't take too kindly to the killing of one of there own, even if it was just an unfortunate, uncontrollable accident. Somebody has to take the fall, and that someone was me, even as a newborn. I was just a curse, a blight on the face on our species. Something that the world had to be cleansed of so that our species could live on. The High King and the other, less powerful ones ere ready to execute me. Sounds kinda funny, doesn't it? The execution of a baby? Doesn't even sound realistic, does it? Well they were ready to. Damn near went through with it, too. That is, until one person spoke up, and agreed to take me in. That was Old Man Enji; I'll never forget the old bastard. I don't know how the hell Enji convinced the council of kings to spare me, but he did. He always did have an oddly good talent for finesse. But he took me in, and basically became my father.

Fast forward to my childhood. Let's say maybe eight or nine years old. As if my life didn't start off bad enough with the whole near-execution thing this is where things started on an even sharper decline. Everyone around me was discovering their powers, warping, telepathy, linking minds, and even the rare cases of memory manipulation and causing others hallucinations. But not me. I couldn't do jack-shit. Enji told me it was just the human in my veins, and that I'd awaken in time. All I had to do was be patient. I can't explain what he said as well as he said it, but ,like I told you, he always did have a way with words. The Endermen my age all looked down on and teased me. 'Andr the Unavailing.' 'Andr the Impotent.' 'Mongrel.' 'Andr, the half-breed who will amount to nothing.' The list goes on, and that's some of the nicer stuff I got. Everyday for a decade or so.

Jump a few years ahead to when I was eleven or so, to the start of everybody's favorite stage in life, puberty. The teasing only got worse from there, and not only that, but this is when it started to get physical. Male and female Endermen alike would put their hands on me. It started lightly, with them doing things like poking and prodding at me, but that didn't take long to turn into slapping, then punching, then full-scale beatings, sometimes done by one, sometimes in groups. There was one guy in particular who hit me the hardest, Colin. Dear Notch, I hated that asshole. He'd leave me the most bruised and broken. Every few weeks I'd go home to Old Man Enji, covered in cuts, bruises, blood, you name it. He'd examine my body for injuries, patch me up, and I'd have to take it easy for a while as I healed. Remember When I said this was during puberty? Well this s where that has relevance.

Like I said, on a more or less triweekly basis, Enji would have to inspect my entire body-which was in the early stages of development at the time-and I guess the old bastard took a liking to it. Not too long after the third inspection, he'd sneak into my room at night when he thought I was asleep. Every other night, he'd come in. And he...he would...he would touch me...along with himself. He'd slowly pull the blanket off of me, undress me, and go at it; then return everything back to normal when he finished. Sometimes he'd change my position. Maybe spread my legs, put me face-down-ass-up, or just hoist my legs up entirely. Other times he'd do things like tying my wrists and ankles to the bedposts. At least he wouldn't actually do anything involving contact between me and his dick. At least it was only his hands, and just one at that. He jacked off with his other one. But it didn't take long for that to change.

A year and a half after the 'night visits' first started, he started making bolder moves. He'd undress me, tie me up, spread my legs, whatever. The usual routine. But then, he'd...he'd start rubbing me, and _not_ with his hands. He'd position himself along with me, and he'd grind his dick along the lips of my vagina, or in the crack of my ass, or sometimes he'd take my hand and have me give him a handjob. Then...he'd cum. He'd cum on me. On my stomach, along my back, in my hands, on my face, wherever he saw fit is where he let loose. It was like he was a painter and my body was a blank canvas. Then he'd clean up afterwards. Sometimes he'd open my mouth, and he'd shoot it in there. Sometimes, he'd cut out the middle man and put me dick in my mouth, and face-fuck me. I'd always throw up anything and everything I could manage the next morning. His moans engraved their mark in my skull, and I'll never be able to get them out. To this day they still sound so...fresh. So organic. So..._real_. Sometimes I can still hear them at night when I close my eyes. I can still feel him molesting me. I never thought about it before that all started, but I'd never seen him with a wife, or a girlfriend or anything, making me the only girl in his life. There'd be days when various pairs of my panties would 'go missing,' and I'd find them a few weeks later, but then another would just go missing.

I couldn't call him out on anything he did; I tried once to the Council of Kings but they didn't give me any type of consideration. He was the only person I had, the only one who would give me the time of day about anything. And I couldn't call him out on his actions for that very reason. If I said anything about it to him, I really wouldn't have anyone to turn to, and the Council would probably take that chance to succeed in getting rid of me.

Five years. For five years that went on. Five years of molestation one night, and crying myself to sleep the next. The old man would be fatherly to me during the day, but when the sun went down and the lights went out, he was an entirely different person. He was...a monster. But the nights wouldn't be very different for that five years. They'd follow the general, bi-daily cycle. Until one night, where he broke that cycle. I guess he was feeling really ballsy, because never did I expect him to do what he did that night. He followed the usual routine, undress, position, grind. But _this_ is where it really took off. After a little bit of grinding he stopped, and I knew he wasn't done. He generally would last a lot longer than he was at that moment. He slowed to a halt, grabbed my legs, and pulled me closer than he'd normally do. He lifted both legs onto his shoulders, giving himself some leverage. His dick was just lying against my vagina the entire time, slowly grinding against it with each movement he made. But then, he pulled back a bit, positioned himself, and thrust hard into me. He busted straight through the hymen without so much as a second thought. I screamed at the top of my lungs, tears streamed from my eyes, and blood trickled from my no-longer-virgin vagina, but he didn't care. He just continued thrusting hard and fast into me. He said he knew I'd been awake for almost the entire time, that I'd only been pretending to be asleep. He said he didn't care, because it only made it more pleasurable for him. And that's when it happened.

I blacked out. I'd get random flashes of some type of carnage while I was out. And when I came to, the room was a bloody mess. Blood soaked the bed, stained the walls, and dampened the floor. I looked for Enji, but didn't expect to find what I did. If I didn't already know that it had to be Enji, I wouldn't know who or what it was. The body was mangled, mutilated, strewn into a pile of gore that couldn't be distinguished as anything, really. Then I saw it. It being me. In a broken mirror, I saw my reflection, and I was a fucking monster. My canines had become fangs, my nails claws, a good amount of my skin was jet black, and my entire eyes were a bright, glowing purple. I couldn't even call what I saw myself. I couldn't call that thing in the mirror Andr. I knew I'd just be killed when they found out what I did, so I ran. I just ran out into the night, into the moonlight forest. I didn't have anywhere to go, but I had to get the hell away from that place. Was on my own for two years, up until almost two months ago, when Jordan found me, and took me in. He was the first person in my life that treated me like I wasn't some kind of freak. Some kind of disgusting killing machine. Some abomination. He was the first person that actually made me feel like...like a human."

* * *

_**(Skye's POV)**_

I lie on my back out in the forest somewhere, staring up at the sky, watching the clouds drift across it. I've been out since before any of the mob girls got up, and I've been leaving like this since Jordan left. I guess a little bit of him rubbed off on me. After I got back a few days ago, the others told me he just...left, and nobody knew anything about why he did it-though I can think of a pretty good reason-or how long he plans to be out. Today...today is his birthday. Or maybe "Would've been" would be more accurate. No, no, I can't think like that. Someone like him wouldn't die that easily. I've seen what he can do, which apparently includes avoiding death. But, why would he be taking so long to come back...? I sigh as I sit up, and rest my arms on my knees as I think. My heart sinks as I start to think about what might've happened to him. I...I didn't mean what I said to him. About breaking up. I realize now that it's not the same without him. It just feels so...empty. The house, and my heart.

The leaves and the grass rustle around me, and it calms me down a bit. Something about nature is just so...serene... I just let my mind drift off to the sound of nature. As I lie on the ground, I swear I hear something beneath me. I turn over and press my ear to the ground. I was right; there's some type of rumbling underneath me, really distant, though. I can't make out exactly what it is, but I doubt it bodes well. As I listen to that, another think that catches my attention is the rustling of the leaves. Leaves rustling wouldn't be uncommon, except for two things: the first being that there's no wind in this world. Granted, it could just be an animal brushing against some of the lower trees' leaves, which brings me to my next problem: this is too consistent, it's happening too often. I jump to my feet. Something isn't right. As soon as I do this, the rustling stops. As soon as I start to survey my surroundings, an arrow flies right at me, and I narrowly dodge it. I guess I did learn a thing or two from Jordan, though I don't think my reflexes are quite as keen as his.

I don't know what else to do, so I start running. Every few seconds, an arrow just barely misses me as I run. I take cover from the assault behind a nearby tree. I ready my bow for a counterattack, and, as I stick my head out from behind the tree, the first thing I see is an arrow speeding straight at me. My mind blanks and I can't bring myself to move. Just as the arrow is about to hit, a wall of fire rips it's way across the ground, seemingly erupting from the earth itself. I quickly back away in fear that I may get caught in them. The arrow doesn't pass through the other side, so I guess it burned up in the flames, contradictory to what Minecraft arrows actually do. The flames start to die down, and when they do completely, I almost want to cry at the sight of who's on the other side of them.

* * *

_**(Jordan's POV)**_

As I'm flying back to the house, something catches my eye. Or better said, _someone_. By the time I realize what I saw, I'd already passed the person. I circle back to get a good look at who it is. When I do realize who it is, I can't believe my eyes.

'Fucking Shawn.' I think out loud.

Does it count as thinking out loud if you're technically still just thinking it?

He's running, but-considering that he keeps stopping and hiding-I'd say he's trying to hide from something. But there's nothing that I can see is after him, so he's gotta be the pursuer. He stays in his current spot for a while, and he pulls out his bow, readying an arrow in his hand. I land and look in the direction on the opposite side of the tree he's hiding behind. Maybe fifteen or so blocks away I see someone else I didn't expect to see. It's Skye. She's in the middle of getting up off the ground, and now she's looking around. It only takes about half of a second to see what's going on here. I land nearby, and try to get a good vantage point on the two of them. I demorph and take Blazette's gauntlets out of my bag, slipping them onto my arms. There's one thing I really like about these gauntlets, and that very well just might save Skye's ass right now. Shawn shoots an arrow at Skye, and she dodged it. Atta girl. After that, she takes off running and Shawn follows in her direction, meaning I'd better kick up some dirt too. I take off, following in their general direction. I run as quietly as I can until Skye stops. I have to skid to a halt to stay out of their detection radius. I'm about ten or fifteen blocks away from each of them. Skye keeps herself pressed up against a tree as she also readies her bow. The problem is that it's an ultimate bow, and that's not gonna put a scratch on him. In fact, it'll do the exact opposite. Shawn, on the other hand is using a standard, vanilla bow. I move my attention back and forth between Shawn and Skye constantly, waiting for either to make a move. Then, I see Shawn ready another arrow. I tense up a bit; the odds aren't exactly in Skye's favor here. Just as Shawn release the arrow, Skye peeks out from behind the tree. From what I can tell, it's headed straight for her head. She's not gonna have time to react to that, it's already too close for her reflexes. I have to do something, otherwise she'll die.

I jump out from behind my tree and slam my hands onto the ground. A plume of fire erupts from the ground right in front of each of them, spreading rapidly in their directions. The two form into tall walls of fire with a little over the width of my body between them. The fire spreads fast enough to catch the arrow in between the two walls. The heat of the fire is so intense, I see the arrow burn to ashes, still in midair, before it even reached the fire in front of it. As the walls continue to spread, I push off the ground hard, and sprint toward the site of Skye and Shawn just-starting fight. I reach it and make both walls recede. When all of the fire is completely gone, I look at the path of destruction is created. Everything within, and close to the walls is burnt to a dark, jet black crisp. Soot from the fire plagues the area.

"I might've overdone it a little, huh?"

I turn to Skye, who looks mesmerized at what just happened. Soon, her eyes start to gloss over, and a small smile makes its way onto her face. Skye runs to me and jumps into my arms. I don't hold her for more than two seconds or so; I've got bigger fish to fry. I pull out of the hug and turn my attention to Shawn.

"Hey asshole," After what I just did, even Shawn looks a little scared. "This is between you and me, no? Why'd you think to involve her in our dispute?" The weirdest part about me and Shawn's rivalry is that there's not much on my end to really back it. The only reason I knew he isn't a good person is because of that weird nightmare or whatever that I had where he'd burned down the old house, and our burnt corpses were everywhere.

"Honestly, it was pure coincidence. I saw a window of opportunity, and decided to take it."

"And now," I summon Fang at his full size. "You suffer the fallout of that choice." Shawn pulls out an ultimate sword. "Why don't we settle account, huh?" I crack my neck. "Me and you; mano y mano."

I take a step and Skye grabs onto my arm. "Jordan, please don't try to do this on your own. Let me help!"

I pull my arm out of her hold and she grasps it again tighter. This is not the time to be bickering amongst ourselves, dammit.

"Stay out of this, Skye." I keep my eyes on Shawn; I can't let him get a cheap blow on me because Skye distracted me.

"Why?! I don't understand! You always try to do everything yourself without leaving anything to anybody else! Do you not think I'm capable, Jordan? Do you not believe in me?"

"You don't get it, Skye, this has nothing to do with you. This one's personal; it's got nothing to do with you."

"Jordan, please! If you try to do this yourself, you could die!"

"Then that's just a chance I'm gonna have to take." I break out of her grip and charge at Shawn, who doesn't seem to have been expecting that.

"Jordan!" I hear Skye scream, but ignore it.

I close the gap between us in little more than two seconds. I slash my sword at him; he blocks with his. His reflexes aren't bad, but you can tell he isn't very experienced by the hint of nervousness on his face and how klutzy his moves are. We go back and forth for a little bit. We clash swords, but don't really get anywhere. From what I can tell, he's giving his all, but I'm going easy on him. This fight's gonna last until I say it's over. He swings at me again and I parry the blow. I take a step back and slash at him. Despite me being a bit out of the range to hit him, he still blocks the blow with his sword. Exactly what I wanted him to do. I slice through the tip of his sword like it's paper. It puts up a little bit of resistance, but nowhere near enough to cause even a slight problem for me. Shawn looks astonished at what just happened. I follow suit by doing the same thing along the blade, reducing the blade to chunks and the sword itself to little more than a hilt. Throughout this, we never stop moving; there's not a moment when either of us are standing still. He tries to back away, attempting to hide his cowardice in our movement patterns. I dismiss Fang, and grab Shawn by the collar, following with a hard right hook to his jaw. I don't stop there though, I deliver blow after blow. To the face, to the chest, to the gut, it doesn't matter to me, I hit wherever it pleases me to. Shawn stumbles up against a tree, then to the ground.

Not as strong as you thought you were, huh, jackass.

"Get up." I command him sternly.

"Can't hit me?" He taunts.

" I'd prefer not to hit a man while he's down; it's not as fun that way."

I grab Shawn again, hoist him up, and slam him against the tree, readying a fist. He looks at me with this disturbing, cocky smirk on his face. It's only disturbing given that I'm the one winning, so he shouldn't have any reason to he this smug. Something isn't right...

Just as I'm about to hit him, something bursts from the ground behind me, and by the sound of it, something _big_. I turn around to see a giant, reptilian, creature. It stands on four legs and has dark, greenish-brown skin with spines running along its back. Its body and head shape kinda look like a big Komodo dragon, or an alligator or something. Wait, I think I know what this is supposed to be. I'm pretty sure it's a basilisk, the reptilian representation, that is.

Wait, the way it's facing. Its attention is locked onto Skye!i turn back to Shawn, his smirk having turned into a full grin.

"Your enemy or your precious, who takes priority?"

So that was his plan! That's why he went after Skye!

I can't bring myself to not hit him. I punch him in the jaw as hard as I can, followed by a knee to the gut, before letting him go and turning to the basilisk. I run between its legs and along its underbelly and reach Skye in good time. It snaps its jaws at us and we both dodge. It takes out the good amount of a tree behind us, leaving an acidic residue behind on the remaining blocks. I can hear the sizzling as the blocks liquify.

"Oh shit!" I hear Skye scream.

"We'll be fine! Don't lose your c-" When I turn to her, I see Blazette, and my mind shuts down for a second. I can't move; all I can do is look at her. She approaches me slowly, and I start to reach out a hand. I feel a hard impact on my head and back, and when I blink I'm looking up at Skye, and the actual sky. Behind her, I see a large beam of white light searing through the land. When I look over I see that the beam is coming from the basilisk's mouth. What the hell just happened...? Damn it, I thought I shook this! I start to sit up , and Skye immediately pushes me back to the ground.

"GET DOWN!" she screams, just as the laser sweeps right over our heads. I look around. Everything that the laser's hitting disappears with almost no trace.

"Oh, fuck!" I say. "Shit just got serious. I get up.

"What're you doing?!" Skye says.

I look around, scanning the area. "He's not where I left him." I say to myself as I look at the tree I left Shawn at earlier. I see him not too far away, climbing up a hill, presumably trying to escape. As he reaches up for a grass block to climb on, I summon Fang and send an energy blade in his direction. From what I can tell, it hits somewhere around his hand. He screams in pain and falls down the dirt blocks he was previously climbing, clutching his hand. Guess I did hit there.

"Skye," I turn to her, "You see what'll happen to you if you stay?" I ask, gesturing to what remains of the trees around us after that hyper beam. "Get out of here, Skye. Now."

"I'm no-"

I grab her shoulders tightly. "Skye!" I stare deep into her eyes. "Leave! I don't care where you go, just go somewhere other than here!" I look down and my grips loosens. "Please... Skye...I...I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Please, go."

"I...okay..." Skye's irritable expression softens, and she turns and starts to run away. She stops for a second and back turns to me. "Hey!" she calls. I look at her. "I..." she starts, but can't finish the sentence, and just starts a new one, "Don't die! When you're done here, we gotta talk!"

"I gotcha!" I give her a thumbs up.

I turn back to Shawn and basilisk. Shawn is still visibly in pain, and the basilisk just stands there, like he's on standby waiting for a command. Wait-and this may be jumping to conclusions-but I think that's it. A normal predator wouldn't stand still when its prey is in front of it like a sitting duck; the basilisk should've attacked me and Skye while we were talking. But, it didn't. And meanwhile, Shawn's occupied with being in pain. I think Shawn is controlling the basilisk in some way. If I can take care of Shawn, I take care of the basilisk; killing two birds with one stone. But, then again, that's just a theory.

Shawn gets up, still clutching hand now blood-soaked hand, and looks at me. The basilisk does the same, as if it just noticed me here. It's a bit of a stretch, but I'm going with him controlling the basilisk. I charge at Shawn, both sprinting and also propelled by fire from my hands. I reach him in a little over a second, and when I do I tackle him hard. I hit him dead in the chest with the top of my head, and, when we're both on the ground, go at it again. I deliver repeated punches to his face, hitting hard. It only seems to get easier and easier tell that he doesn't have any or much skill in combat. I'm just dominating him; this isn't satisfying. You'd think that beating the shit out of the guy who threatened the lives of you and those you care about would feel amazing, but this is the equivalent to playing a game on god mode. It takes the fun out of it. I ease up on him, and climb off of him.

"_Get up._" I say.

He manages to climb to his feet. Looking at him is a less than pleasant sight. His lip is busted, his nose is broken, blood covers a good amount of his face, and some of his wounds are already starting to swell. I open my arms, giving my body full exposure.

"Try your best, fuckface." I say.

He raises his arm, and with the flick of his wrist, I hear the basilisk behind me move. I was right. I spin around, and as the basilisk snaps its jaws at me, I deliver a hard uppercut to the underside of its jaw with a fist shrouded in flames, temporarily incapacitating it. I turn back to him to find him lunging at me. He swings at me with a good amount of energy. I guess adrenaline kicked in or something; I don't really care, it's not like he's winning this fight. I sidestep his attack.. He pivots backward and tries to hit me again. I dodge again. Swing. Dodge. Swing. Dodge.

"Your attacks are slow,"

Another swing.

"Sluggish,"

Another dodge.

"And unorganized."

Swing.

"If you intend to continue fighting," I catch his arm. _"__Don't. Fucking. Underestimate me!"_

I punch Shawn hard in the stomach, and follow up with a side kick, and finish with a devastating roundhouse kick on my other foot. Shawn flies back, hitting the ground hard, and I approach him slowly. I summon Fang, dragging it through the dirt as I approach Shawn. He tries to scuttle away, but can't manage to escape, unable to even get back up on his feet. I bring the tip of the blade up to his neck, digging the metal in enough to bother him, but no to penetrate the skin.

"Here, and now, we end this." I bring my sword up. And now I cast the final strike, ridding myself of a major obstacle in my quest to kill Herobrine. By now, it's no secret that Shawn's working with him; it's not all too hard to tell. My question is, after I defeat Herobrine, then what? What comes after I finish the main quest of this world? I'm getting ahead of myself. Shawn now, Herobrine later. One step at a time. "One strike to finish this. One strike, to right the wrongs you've done." I think out loud. This strike is for more than me. This is for every action Shawn's taken against me. For any and every-even the tiniest-bit of influence Herobrine and Shawn have had on this world. This is for destroying my house. For endangering the lives of everyone there while I was gone. For the Aliens that attacked me and Cupa, and for her almost killing herself for me. This is for Skye now. For the Ogre attack on the village. This is for the Nether... This is for... Blazette...

I hold my sword high, and take a deep breath. One strike to end, and so I can finally do what I'm in this world to do.

"I hope you've enjoyed your time here, but I have to inform you that it's come to an end. I'll see you in hell, asshole."

As I'm about to deliver a downward swing, I hear a scream from behind me. _Skye's_ scream. MOTHERFUCKER! I thought she left! I quickly turn around to see the basilisk farther in the distance, and I hear Skye scream again in that direction. I turn back to Shawn, who has that cocky smile on his face again.

"History really does just repeat itself, eh?"

"Motherfucker!" I shout as I take off in Skye's direction.

I told her to leave! WHY?! WHY IS SHE STILL HERE?! FUCKING WHY?! WHY, WHY, WHY?! I slash at the basilisk repeatedly. The energy blades barely leave a scratch on its scaly hide. I propel myself towards Skye faster with the fire power from Blazette's gauntlets. Before I even reach her, I see the light pouring out from the sides of the basilisk's mouth. I'm gonna have to clutch this one hard. In another second, I reach her, and I tackle her a lot harder than I'd like to have done. Before either of us even hit the ground, I'm already in the middle of a roll to get me back on my feet in as little time as possible. Time seems to slow down as I switch from action to action. As soon as I'm oriented right-side-up, not even waiting to make it back to my feet, I immediately cross my forearms, and Regulus expands in front of me and Skye. A split-second later, the hyper beam shoots from the reptile's mouth, hitting my shield instantly. Even through the shield, I can feel the beam's power. It's sapping my energy at an alarming rate, taking exponentially more every second I defend against it. Despite this, I hold strong. I don't care how strong I'm being hit, I am _NOT_ letting this shield drop! Somehow, I'm doing better than I did at the village, despite this attack yielding God-knows-how-much more power than the Ogres did. I guess it's my resolve to protect Skye. The shield works according to how I do, just like Fang. I guess my undying will to protect her is quite literally the only thing keeping either of us alive. Cracks spread throughout the entirety of the shield, making it quickly resemble a dropped iPhone. But I refuse to let up.

"Jordan..." I hear Skye say.

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! WHY DID YOU STAY?! WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" I erupt on her. It might not be good to use what's left of my energy like this.

The beam lasts for what feels like a millennia, and I'm barely managing to hold myself together as it continues to impact Regulus. My vision starts to blur and I feel extremely light-headed and dizzy. My legs are almost completely numb and at this point I'm forcing them to keep holding me up. Finally, the beam narrows into nothing. But it just barely manages to shatter the shield half a second before this happens completely. A very thin part of the beam clips my right side, just barely managing to graze it. Yet it's the most intense pain I've ever felt in my life. It's like someone took a bar of tungsten _**(the metal with the highest melting point, at 6,191 degrees Fahrenheit and 3,422 Celsius)**_ just below its melting point and pressed it against my torso. Yet, I can't manage to react. If the fatigue hadn't brought me close enough to blacking out, that pain finished it. I don't even hit the ground before everything goes dark.


	32. Escape

**Chapter 32: Escape**

I find myself lying in complete nothingness once again. I can't move a single part of my body, and I can barely keep my eyes open. After a little while, a big, dark hand reaches out to me. I don't know what it is, but I have a feeling something bad is about to happen. It stretches its index out to me, and presses the tip against my forehead, and, in my upper peripherals, I see a white light. As the finger maintains contact with me, I feel increasingly empty. I don't know what, but it feels like it's draining me of something. I want to move, to break away from the black hand, but I still can't move. By the time the hand pulls away, I feel completely devoid of something, like a big chunk of myself is missing. I'm left shaking. Just what the hell was that?

When I come to, I'm lying on my side-my left side, thankfully-in some type of dungeon. The walls, ceiling, and floor are all made of bedrock, and there's an iron door on the side of the room opposite me. The room is dimly lit by red stone torches and a little bit of light is spilling in from the crevices of the door. I try to get up, but I barely have any strength in my legs, and I flop back to the ground immediately. I try to put my arms out to catch myself, but they only move a few inches before stopping. That's when I realize the shackles on my wrists and ankles. I immediately start to panic. What the hell is going on?! Where am I?! Why am I shackled?! What the fuck is this?! My wrists are shackled together, my feet separate, and each is bound to the wall behind me by a four-or-so-foot chain. I try to wrestle my way out of the shackles, but to no avail. My ears are filled with the sounds of my own heavy breathing and the rattling of my chains.

"It's no use; I already tried getting out." I hear Skye's voice. I look in the direction of it and see her chained to the wall adjacent to me. Great, she's here, too. I don't know if having another person here with me is a good or a bad thing.

I look at her, but say nothing, before returning my gaze to the ground.

**'Andr! Andr, if you can hear me-and I'm sure you can-I need your help now more than ever! I don't know exactly where I am, but I was captured by Shawn. I need you to get someone from the house and search around where I was when I fought Shawn however-long ago.'** I don't know how long I've been out. Andr doesn't respond. **'Andr, please! I'm in some dungeon and I don't have any sort of plan to get out! Right now, I need all the help I can get!'**

"Hey," she says. I don't even look at her. "Talk to me!"

I still refuse to make eye contact. I was so close. If she hadn't been there...

"Hey! I know you hear me! Don't be a dick, Jordan, at least look at me!"

I give her nothing. I feel like if I just looked at her, her face would just piss me off. I close my eyes and focus my energy into the silver dragon cooled around my left wrist. The cool thing about him-other than that he's also a sword-is that he's his own organism. More than just a bracelet, he's a completely separate life form from me. Around my wrist, he's inanimate, but I can bring him to life at will, either controlling him myself or letting him have autonomy. After a few seconds, he unwinds himself from my arm, and starts to go to work at my shackles. As a sword, Fang can cut through anything if I have the will, and the same applies as a dragon, though it does take a bit more. It'll take a minute or two to cut through these in this state, but if I can get my hands on him, I should have no trouble cutting through with his sword form.

"Jordan...please..." Skye's voice comes again, having lost its edge, now almost pleading. She sounds so...vulnerable...so weak. I rarely witnessed her like this back on Earth, but here it seems a lot more common. I look over to her and see her pitiful face, and my entire demeanor changes. Okay, whatever this is about, it really _is_ serious. I return my gaze to the bedrock floor.

"Why?" I ask without looking at her.

"Because I have something to t-"

"That's not what I'm asking." I cut her off. "Why did you stay? Or come back, or whatever you did? I told you to leave, and I was sure you did. But joke's on me, I guess, because two minutes later there you were, still at the scene and now in some kind of trouble. When I told you to leave, I was looking out for you. I always am, but whenever I give you any type of directive or advice for your own wellbeing, it just goes in one ear and out the other. And here we are as a result. So I want to know, Skye-because not knowing the answer to this question is fucking killing me-_why_?"

Back on Earth, I'd always give her some type of advice-and it'd be good advice too-and she would never listen to me. Then she'd get mad at me when I didn't feel bad for her when she gets fucked over because of it. She's been that way for years, and I've never understood why the hell she refuses to ever listen to me.

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't want to leave you, up against that thing. I wanted to help you fight. I...I guess I just wanted to see you come out of it alive. If I left you, and you didn't come back, I would've been destroyed."

Hearing that actually kinda makes me happy.

"Well, I'm alive. You happy?" I'd spread my arms to gesture to myself if I could.

"...No...I'm not." I can hear the guilt, sorrow, and defeat in her voice. I want to feel bad, I really do, but I can't. My way of life is 'No sympathy for idiocy.' But I can't bring myself to be mad at her for what she did, either.

Ten or so seconds go by with no words exchanged between the two of us, then Skye speaks up, "Hey, I..."

I look at her and she stops for a second. Something about my gaze probably intimidated her.

"You remember what I said, about wanting to talk?" She continues. I don't answer. "Well, I, uh...I mean...listen, I know this may not be the best time, but I really just want to get this out of the way."

Again, I say nothing.

"A few ago, before you left, I...I said some things. Some selfish things. I don't know quite how to put this, so I'm just gonna come out with it. I...I didn't mean what I said, and I realized this right after I got back to the house and you weren't there. I just...I just felt so empty. It wasn't the same without you. The house was quieter, the animals didn't even want to move from whatever spot they were in, and my heart aches every morning I got up to your side of the bed being empty. And I fucking hated every moment of it! I know I said that I can't put up with you anymore and all, but I realize that even more than that, I can't put up with being without you. I...I love you, Jordan. And what's love without a little pain, right?"

I have no words to explain how I feel after that. My emotions are all weird and jumbled up. Part of me is happy that she does still want to be together, but another part of me is sad because I know I can't be with her. I know turning her down will hurt her, but her finding out about my cheating would even more. The cheating can't stay a secret forever; she's bound to find out at some point, and that's when it'll all fall apart. I do not look forward to that day.

"I suppose there's something you want to ask branching off of that?" I say.

"Can we get back together?"

"Listen Skye," I sigh. "I love you too, I really do. But I don't know if I can answer that question right now."

She looks hurt at that, of course. God dammit, I hate her hurt face. I feel so fucking guilty every time I bring it out.

"I never thought I'd say this, since it's cliché and complete bullshit, but it's not you, it's me. I've got some demons to work out, so to speak."

Skye looks at me with tears in her eyes. She wasn't expecting a no, she had no reason to. I was the one trying to save our relationship a few days ago, now the script's been flipped.

"Hey, why don't you ask me again after get outta here, huh?" I give a hopeful smile.

Skye perks up a bit. And I do too; as I look at her, I feel the constraint on my wrists disappear, and hear a small clank as they hit the floor. My happiness doesn't last long though. A few second later, the iron door I mentioned swings open, and Shawn walks in. Looking at him, he's more or less completely healed from earlier. I quickly grab the shackles from the floor behind me to simulate them still being around my wrists.

"Well, well, looks like the lovebirds are up." he says as he approaches us slowly.

"We're on a bit of a break right now, sadly." I say sarcastically.

"Oh? I thought you two were a match made in heaven?" he says with a hint of something that I can't describe as anything other than "asshole" in his voice.

"What the hell do you think you know about us?"

"I know more than you could imagine, Jordan." He kneels down before me, a wicked smile on his face.

"Let us go, you fucking asshole! Or I'll-" Skye erupts, rushing at him to the limits of her chains.

"You'll _what_, Skye?!" Just hearing her name come out of his mouth both pisses me off and makes me sick to my stomach. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you're not quite in the position to be making threats!" Next he does something that makes my blood boil. He raises his foot and kicks her in the face.

"Skye!" I scream as she hits the ground. I try to rush at him too, until I hit the boundaries of the chains at my legs and in my hands. I can't see how I look right now, but I'd imagine I look something like an angry dog, trying to get to someone outside the radius of his chain. I can't even stand up all the way; because of the chains' height difference in the wall, I can barely even stand halfway up. I have to keep a somewhat level head here. If I give into my emotions, I'll slip up, and, given the ground Shawn's got on me and Skye, it'll all be downhill from there. But it's so hard to ignore my rage from what just happened.

'Andr, wherever you are, now' be a great time for some backup. Please?'

Again, no response.

"Hey!" I bark at Shawn, "This is between the two of us; you keep your fucking hands off her!"

Shawn grins evilly. "Maybe," he says. "If you drop to your knees and beg, I'll let her go."

"Don't do it, Jordan!" Skye says.

"I ain't begging for shit, you maniac." I say.

Shawn laughs hysterically. "Okay, okay, let me rephrase. Maybe if you beg," he pull out a dagger and presses it to her throat. "I'll let her _live_." He runs the blade along her neck, and I see blood trickling from where he'd done it.

I pull harder and harder at my chains, as if it'll do anything. I immediately look at Skye's neck. He broke the skin and drew blood, but, from what I can tell, he didn't do any real damage and the bleeding won't do anything except maybe fuck up the collar of her shirt a little. But it does still piss me off.

Shawn laughs again. "You seem to care for her quite a bit, don't you?"

I don't answer; I just glare at him. I can't escape all too well with him in here. All he'll do is cause for unnecessary complications.

"_This_ is what you did to me!" Shawn holds out his bandaged left hand. Most of three of his fingers are missing, cut off at a sharp angle. I'll admit, that does make me kinda happy to see. "But it looks like I've struck a gold mine with this one."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" I ask. My grip on the broke shackles tightens as I tense up.

"It means that, once I'm done with you," he reaches his hand-the one with all five fingers-up her shirt, grabbing Skye's breast. She yelps, whimpers, and squirms. And my blood fucking boils. "I think I'll be taking her as compensation." With his other hand, he grabs her face, holding it in place, and he licks her. He runs his tongue upwards along her cheek, and licks his lips afterwards.

Seeing that, and the horror in Skye's eyes as he does it, I can't hold myself back anymore. I snap like a twig. I drop the shackles and reach out to Fang. He converts to his sword form and shoots into my hand like metal to a magnet. I slash through the chains on my legs with no trouble, and immediately rush Shawn while he's in shock. I slam him up against the bedrock wall with my shoulder and grab his shirt. Once I have a good enough fistful of it I punch him in the face repeatedly. I'd love to light his face on fire, but it's at this moment that I realize I'm not wearing the gauntlets. He probably has them stashed somewhere, along with the rest of my gear. I can do without my shit, but I'm _not_ leaving without saying those gauntlets. I've gotta get them before I get out of here. I continue to beat on Shawn, adrenaline pumping furiously through my veins. At one point, he manages to overpower me, and reverses our position with me now pinned against the wall. I give him a hard headbutt, and, as he recoils back, I kick him in the stomach with all my strength. As he lies on the ground, I quickly turn to Skye and slice through her chains. As she stands up, she basically falls into my arms, and I almost don't want to let her go. But we've got bigger fish to fry. Shawn tries to stand up and I deliver a brutal side kick directly to his face. He flies back, clutching his face in pain. I grab Skye's arm and make a run for the exit.

The two of us hurts through the door into a long hallway that extends far on either end. The walls are cobblestone, but there's sunlight coming from somewhere out here, so we aren't underground. The light isn't too bright, but I can tell that it's natural at the least.

"Which way do we go?" Skye says nervously.

I look back and forth between our options. "This way!" I say as I lead her down the hall. I don't know what we're charging into, but I'm damn sure ready to face it. We rush down the hall, passing various rooms along the way. As we run, I start to hear barking growing closer, but I don't hear paws on the floor. I think Shawn's got wolves, and we're heading right towards them. I skid to a halt as we reach an intersection of two hallways. Skye looks in the direction with the most light and tried to run that way, but I grab her arm before she can get anywhere and take a few steps in the opposite direction.

"What are you doing?! The nearest exit's most likely to be this way!"

"There's something I have to grab." I take another step in my direction and Skye resists, trying to pull me her way.

"No, we have to get out of here now; we're so close! Probably."

"Then go on your own." I let her go. "You get out if you want, but I've got something to find."

"No, we have to stick together!" she says. "I...I don't want to lose you again..."

That's what I thought.

I hear a door somewhere release, then I hear paws scuttling on the wood floor. The sound's coming from the direction we were heading in up until this intersection. So we were heading straight for wolves.

"Then you're coming with me." I grab her arm again, wrapping it around my neck, and scoop her up into my arms. She yelps as I do so. "Hold on!"

I dart down the hallway at top speed, amplified by the Velocity Raptor's speed buff. Skye screams as I run. She herself runs pretty fast, but I'm running upwards of forty miles per hour, faster than any human can run as far as I know. I look back and forth between the sides of the hall as I go, peering into every doorway. I don't know where Blazette's gauntlets are, but wherever they may be I hope they're in plain view. One open doorway in specific catches my eye. In the split second that I see into the room, I see a girl standing in it with her back to the doorway. I don't have time to really take in anything except for that whoever it is has long hair. I slow to a halt soon after passing that door. Skye climbs out of my arms.

"What are you doing?! We have to get going!"

"There's someone in there." I take a step back towards the door, and Skye grabs my arm to stop me.

"Probably another prisoner, like us. But that doesn't matter; we have to get out!" She yells at me.

I break free of her grasp and head back to the door. Whoever it was wasn't imprisoned like us. Shawn's working with somebody. I look back in to see no one. But I swear to God I saw someone before. I know I did. I just stand there in the doorway staring.

"See? Nobody, now come on!" Skye says when she catches up to me. She grabs my arm again, but then I see what I was looking for. Sitting atop a desk are Blazette's gauntlets! And next to the desk is Skye's and my stuff.

"Jackpot!" I exclaim as I run into the room. I hear the sound of parking and rapid paws growing closer.

"They're coming!" Skye says.

I grab the gauntlets and slip my hands into them, sliding them down my forearms. I bash my knuckles together and a small eruption of flames appears for a second.

"Get back." I pull Skye behind me, then walk up to the doorway. I let the wolves reach the door, then slam my hands on the ground. Fire erupts before me, engulfing everything in my immediate path. When they recede, anything that had been there-omit the parts of the building itself-is gone. I stand back up. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" I run back to the desk and grab Skye's and my stuff, tossing hers to her. It's then that I hear more and more footsteps coming from the hallway. They sound kinda metallic and heavy. Whoever's out there, they're wearing armor, and there's a whole lot of them!

"Okay, okay, what to do?" I look around the room. I've gotta be smart about this one or we may not make it out. All that's in here is a desk, a chair, and whatever Skye and I had when we were captured. The desk. I got it. I drop my stuff and rush out the door.

"Jordan!" Skye screams after me.

I break the lever off of the wall outside and run back in, hitting the one on the inside. What's a bit unnerving is that I heard the steps from down the hall. Then I hop over the desk to the other side.

"Oh, God, we're gonna die! We are so fucked!" Skye screams.

I start pushing the desk across the room to the door.

"We could be out of this place already! Why'd I think listening to you was a good idea?!"

That gets to me, and I stop pushing for a second. Are you fucking with me?! If you'd have just left...! I consider retorting, but I ultimately decide to just keep pushing. I go to the short edge of the desk and start to lift it up.

"Hey!" Skye yells at me.

I'm not giving her anything.

I get the desk up on its side, balancing it carefully, and start to push it into the doorway. Once it's in I stand back as whatever enemies lie on the other side pound on the door in an attempt to break it open. Iron door that opens inwards and is blocked by a desk. Nobody's getting in anytime soon. Shit, all that took a lot out of me. My adrenaline rush feels done for. I don't have shit worth of energy now. I grab my bag, press my back against the wall, and slide down it. I open my back to see my inventory completely empty.

SON OF A BITCH!

"Jordan!" Skye yells at me. I look up at her. "I can't believe you! You get us stuck in this room with whatever-the-fuck pounding on the door to get in, then you give me the silent treatment!"

"I'm sorry, what?!" I say, aggravated. "_I_ got us into this?! None of this would be happening if you had just left! We wouldn't be here at all if you had just fucking listened to me! But, of course, you didn't! In one ear and out the other, just like always! And you have the fucking audacity to get mad at _me_ for something that wouldn't have happened if _you_ would listen to me just one! Fucking! Time!" It's not actually very easy to make me mad, unless you manage to hit me with some bullshit. I'm a very impatient person, especially when it comes to tolerating somebody's bullshit. I stand up and pull the strap of my bag over my shoulder and across my chest. Suddenly, I feel invigorated, and not in a good way. Time to release some anger.

I summon Fang and slice the desk over and over again, cutting cleanly through it. I go at it under it's nothing but small pieces of wood. I bash my knuckles together, and a big spark emits from them. I punch the door with both hands just about as hard as I can, and it explodes off of its hinges. It flies outward, taking one of the people outside of the room with it, and hits the wall on the other side of the hallway.

"Jordan!" Skye calls to me.

Nope. I'm done talking. Now, I let loose.

I step out into the hall and see a handful of armored figures. There skin is an ominous black and their eyes are white and empty. From what I can count, there's about a dozen about a dozen. Sounds doable.

I crack my neck. "Let's go."

I charge at the trooper nearest me and punch with a fair amount of force to the chest. He stumbles back and I deliver a scorching uppercut, following with a hard side kick that knocks him to the ground hard. Before he can get up I raise my foot and stomp down on his neck hard. I spin around and see another one swinging a sword at me. I grab the wrist, duck under her arm around to his back, twist the wrist around, and punch the elbow as hard as I can with an open palm strike, bending it in the opposite direction. A distorted scream escaped from the trooper. I grab the sword when it hits the ground and finish him off with it.

I can hear Skye screaming my name in concern behind me. I don't think she left the room yet.

When I turn back around, I see the mob zeroing in on me, already having blocked the doorway to that office or whatever it was supposed to be. I flick the sword, shaking off whatever blood I can, switch it to my left hand, and summon Fang in my right. The trooper's sword is not as heavy as I'd like, but it'll have to do. I slash my way through the crowd until I reach Skye again. I hoist her over my shoulder and speed out the door. As I dart down the hall, a light grows brighter. "Brighter" is a bit of an overstatement; the light itself is a pretty dull grayish, but as we approach it kinda gets stronger, so to speak. I guess my way was the right way to go after all. At the end of the hall, we break into a large room that's essentially a replica of a beach. The floor is sand and there's water at the edge of the room. And I do mean the edge, because not only is this room missing a wall on the side that has the water, but, as it turns out, this entire building was apparently built suspended in the air.

"The fuck?!" Skye says as I put her down.

"Dead end." I say. Okay, now, I'm drained again.

"What now?" She says.

"Morph and fly away." I say. There are times when I forget that we have that ability.

"I don't know, I'm not that good at flying." Skye says.

Now that I think about it, I do go out and fly a lot more than the others. I don't think they really have a reason to, but it helps me clear my head.

"Fine, fine, I'll morph into something big enough and carry you." I drop my stuff and focus. But...nothing. I hear footsteps gaining on us from the end of the hallway we just came from. We don't have much time.

"What's taking so long?" Skye asks.

"I-I don't know! I can't do it!" I try to focus on one of my morphs, to channel the DNA of the various creatures I've acquired, but I don't feel anything. Like nothing is there. I...I lost my morphs!

"Well, what now?" Skye asks.

"What does it matter? You probably wouldn't listen anyway."

"Jordan!"

"Hey, don't pretend your stupid-ass ignorance isn't the reason we're here in the first place!"

She doesn't say anything back.

"Now, if I tell you what to do, will you actually listen?" I look her dead in the eyes.

"Yes." she nods.

"Swear."

"I swear, I fucking swear! Hurry, we don't have much time!"

"Run." I say as I push her over the edge of the platform we're standing on. It's a long way to fall; she has some time to morph. We're also floating over a sea, so that's a plus.

"I told you I'm not good at flying!" Skye screams as she falls.

Guess you'll just have to make do.

I turn around to see Shawn slowly making his way down the hall. Taking his good ass time for some stupid ass reason. Explains why it took so long to reach us I guess. I fall to one knee, my breathing a bit labored. I'll be honest, I'm fucking beat. I'm running on fumes here. But of course I couldn't let Skye see that. My thing now is I don't think I'm gonna make it out of this one scot-free. My chances aren't looking too good. We'll see if I can play my cards just right.

Shawn continues to make his approach, and I can't manage to focus enough to formulate a plan. Once he reaches me, he grabs me by the collar and lifts me up to my feet.

"Nowhere to run now, huh? Back against a wall. No will or energy to fight back. What next, Jordan? Tell me exactly how you expect this to go."

I hate to admit it, but the bastard's right. I've got nowhere to run now. The only way to go is...down.

"You're at the end of the road, Jordan. Now, I'm no psychic, but I can tell you a little something about how this'll go." Shawn lets go of my collar and uses that same hand to punch me square in the face. I take the hit. My mind's running too slow to fight back. "This is where our story ends. One of us walks away from this." Another blow to the face. "And it ain't gonna be you." He punches me hard, knocking me to the ground. I fall into my back, right where the sand meets the water, just before the edge. Once I'm down, Shawn's immediately on top of me. He has me pinned to the sandy floor, and starts wailing on me. Again, I take the hits.

I spit a little bit of blood onto the sand.

"What, at a loss for words? Funny, normally you always have something to say, always have some quip, a sarcastic comment. What's wrong, stiff upper lip, cat got your tongue?"

"I'll admit it, you're right. I'm not walking away from this. At this point, it'd take a miracle for me to get out of this. And I ain't one for waiting for a miracle." I run my hand through the sand, digging it in then raising it up and letting it flow between my fingers.

Shawn looks at me, with a satisfied smile.

"But," I dig my hand deep into the sand. "If I gotta die anyway, the least I can do is make sure you don't get to enjoy it!" I smash my fist against his face with all the force I can, releasing a fistful of sand. Shawn recoils back, releasing a short cry of pain. I've had sand thrown in my eyes before; it's far from pleasant. As soon as he's up, I kick him off of me, and I lurch back hard, sending myself over the edge of the platform.

This ain't the way I planned on going out, but, funnily enough, I feel more than satisfied. Time slows down as I fall, and I take this opportunity to actually take in my surroundings. I now see the clouds, the dull grey color stretching across the sky. Overcast, huh? Looks like it'll be a rainy one. I hit the water hard, and most of the air is sucked out of my body upon impact. I sink like a rock, no ability whatsoever to try to swim to surface; I've got nothing left in my body to be able to move. After a very short while, I'm out of air. My lungs burn for oxygen, and my mouth opens as if I'm gonna take a deep breath, but I only suck in water. I guess this really is the end, isn't it?

It's then that I remember what day it is. August sixth. Happy birthday to me, huh?


	33. Moments After

_**In case any of you (reasonably) thought that the story was over because of where I left it and that there's been nothing for four months, it's far from over. I'm just getting started. I do apologize for my longer-than-usual disappearance. But I have returned and now we're jumping right back into it.**_

* * *

**Chapter 33: Moments After**

_**(Skye's POV)**_

I clumsily fly around, trying to find my way back to the manor. I can feel anxiety tugging at my heartstrings as I fly. Jordan, please, please, _please_ be okay! If you were to...no, I can't think like that. Right now I just have to have faith. I fumble my way through the air until I manage to reach the safe haven. When I eventually make it there I land on the balcony of my and Jordan's bedroom. I immediately morph back to human and burst in through the double doors leading into the room, much to the surprise of Andr, Neige, and Luna. I stumble over my own feet as I scramble across the room and into various chests. My heart pounds out of my chest as I tear the chest apart frantically searching for weapons, armor, anything that may help me look for Jordan. I pull out anything and everything that might prove useful.

"Hey, what's the hurry?" Luna asks from behind me.

"It's Jordan!" I exclaim.

"What?" Neige says, kinda happy, kinda worried.

"Skye." Andr calls from behind me.

"Andr! I need your help! You can use your telepathy thing to find him, right?" I spin around, looking up at the Amazonian of a girl. I grab her by the arms. "Right?!"

"Skye..." her voice starts to waver.

"Andr...please..." Tears start to sting at my eyes, and I try my best to blink them away.

"It's already too late, Skye."

"No! No, no, no, no, you don't know that! You're wrong!" I say in broken speech. "Tell me he's alive!" I start to pound on Andr's chest.

"Skye, please don't make this any harder than it has to be." Tears start to roll down her cheeks, and I can't hold mine back as a result.

"No," I sniffle. "That-it can't be true. It can't!" I hit with less and less force with each hit. "Tell me..."

Andr gently rests her hands on mine. "Skye," she says. I look up at her. "He's gone."

I slowly sink to my knees as her words hit me like a brick wall. He can't be. I was with him just like fifteen minutes ago. I never even got his answer to getting back together. He said he'd tell me when we got back. But now...

"What the hell is going on?" Luna chimes in.

"Please tell me you aren't saying what I think you are." Neige's voice sounds more sullen than usual. She's normally perky and happy and whatnot, but not now. The whole household's been kinda gloomy since he left. It probably won't be getting any better anytime soon after this.

I close the lid of the chest and kneel against it, my hands covering my mouth. My heart hurts and I feel like I'm gonna throw up. How could he be gone? After everything we've been through? There's no god damned way.

Soon, Andr called everybody together and explained what happened as she knows it. Put simply, Jordan called her for help, she started looking through his memories to find him, and in the middle they went fuzzy and just kinda cut off. And there's only one way their link could be severed. My chest tightened and my heart shattered as she recounted every detail of the fight with Shawn and that big lizard thing to the others. One thing she didn't mention was me being told to run, then doing that and coming back. I suppose I should thank her for that, but leaving it out doesn't make me feel any better. Me coming back is what caused our capture. I did this. I...killed him...

I look around the room. Everyone is either in tears or on the verge of them. Everybody except Neige. She sits in silence, not making eye contact with anyone, then gets up and leaves the room without a word to anybody. I want to get up and go after her, but something keeps me glued to my seat on the couch. What would I even say to her? It dawns on me now that I'm not particularly close to any of the girls here. We were really only connected through Jordan. I don't think I truly know any of them, not the way he did at least. It's gonna be awkward living with them for a while.

A knock on the door breaches the silence of the room. And for a second, no one gets up, almost scared to see who it is.

"That could be..." Ana starts, and let's her sentence hang in the air.

I stand up and walk over to the door. When I open it, Jordan's not the one behind it. It was stupid to get our hopes up. Outside stands the man with the skull mask. The guy who helped us with the dragon at the old house a few weeks ago. What the hell is he doing here?

After a second of me staring at him, his voice catches me off guard.

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask, not having heard what he'd said.

"I said is Jordan here?" He says.

I can't find anything to say. A knot forms in my throat and my teeth cringe behind my pursed lips. I try to swallow my spit, but can't even get it down. I open my mouth to speak, but my words don't escape my throat. "Is he not here? I can come back later if so. I just thought I'd wish him a happy birthday, that and take him up on his offer of somewhere to settle down."

_'I just thought I'd wish him a happy birthday.'_ Those words nearly bring me to tears, and the man can tell.

"Hey," he starts, "you alright?"

I can't manage to answer, and the man takes off his mask. Seeing his face, I realize I know him. To my shock, it's one of Jordan's friends from Earth. I assumed the two knew each other but I didn't think I'd know him, too. It's his friend, Jared, a tall white guy with shaggy brown hair and hazel-red eyes. They'd been friends for god knows how long.

"Skye," he says, bringing my attention to him again. "Talk to me. Is something wrong?"

"I...we...h-how're you doing?" is the only thing that can escape my mouth.

"Something's wrong." He affirms.

"You...you should come inside. You're gonna want to hear this."

I bring him inside and Andr tells the story again. I swear she breaks down more and more as she goes over every detail again. Jared sits still, hunched over on the couch, hand holding up his head, eyebrows furrowed. He probably doesn't know what to think. I sure as hell don't.

I turn my attention to Andr, whose face is reddening and has tears slowly running down it. I open my mouth to say something, but she immediately says, "I-I have to go." and she's gone in the blink of an eye, warp particles drifting around where she'd been less than a second earlier. She probably doesn't want to be seen in that state, and left before it got worse. That's fair. Luna and Ana both file out of the room soon after. Cupa left, unnoticed, at some point, too.

"If you want to stay here, we have an empty room upstairs." I stand up as I say this to Jared.

"Where are you going?" he asks.

"To search for him." I respond. "After everything he's been put through, he wouldn't die that easy."

"Listen, Skye, I want to believe, myself, but Andr said-"

"Fuck what Andr said! He can't be dead! He's been through so much shit since he's been here! He saved me from a monster horde, saved a village from an Orc attack, survived a super ghast attack, an encounter with Jeff the killer, two Aliens, a fucking dragon, and a giant lizard that shot hyperbeams! He couldn't have been done in at he hands of one maniacal asshole! He doesn't deserve that! He's so much more than that!" My voice cracks and I feel my eyes watering.

Jared doesn't have anything to say in response.

"I'm going to look for him. And I'm gonna find him. And we're gonna get back together. And everything is gonna be back to normal." I ascend the stairs to our room, where I see Neige. She's sitting on her bed in a fetal position, blankets draped over the entire back side of her body. Her head is tucked away from my view behind her knees. I start to take a step towards her, but something feels...off. I can't put a finger on what it is, but something just feels wrong. And something tells me not to egg her on I pull my foot back towards me before it hits the ground. I return to the chest I was searching when I came in and gather what I think I might need. Sword, bow, arrows, healing stuff, food and water, et cetera. I put whatever fits into my backpack, sling it over my shoulder, and burst through the balcony doors, jumping over the edge and head towards the horses when I hit the ground. He really has rubbed off on me...

I saddle up Shadow and hop on the back of the dark pegasus. As I get comfortable, Luna comes up to me.

"Are you going to look for him?" she asks.

"Don't worry about it. It's none of your business." I grab Shadow's reins. Yeah, he definitely rubbed off on me.

"But it's my fault." she says. I didn't see that one coming.

"The hell are you talking about?"

"What I did caused you two to split up that day, and him to leave. If he hadn't left, you probably wouldn't have either." she says. I can't deny that... "And if you hadn't left, it wouldn't have gone this way."

I sit in silence. I can't deny the truth to what she said.

"I'm coming with you." she says.

"No you're not." I say bluntly.

"I'm coming!" she echoes.

"You are not! He's not your boyfriend, so lay off!" I yell at her. "Everyone in this house is trying to get to him, and I'm god damned sick of it! If you all could stop trying to take my boyfriend then maybe shit like this wouldn't happen!"

"He's my master! My everything! I love and care for him more than I do anyone else!"

(Italics)"Not the way that I do!" And with a flick of the reins Shadow takes off. Now, on the back of a speeding horse, is when I notice the drizzles of rain pelting my face. I look up at the sky, the normally bright shine of the sun dulled down by a film of grey clouds that lets go of increasing amounts of raindrops every few seconds. Of course, mere seconds after taking off, I hear rapid footsteps coming from behind me. I take a look backwards and, sure enough, Luna's hunched over running on all fours, maintaining speed and staying on my tail. I maneuver between trees, up hills, and over ledges in an attempt to lose her, but the wolf girl holds her ground. I don't know how she's even keeping up this well. I'm pretty damn sure horses can outrun wolves.

I don't know how long she chases me, but she somehow keeps up with me, only lagging a few blocks behind. I start to slow Shadow down as a particularly familiar stretch of land comes into view behind the trees. Luna catches on and slows down too. I slow Shadow to a halt as we reach a stretch of decimated trees. I ease myself off of the dark pegasus' back and look around. Trees burned down to the base, scorch marks almost as fresh as when it happened. A gaping hole in the ground sits in the near distance. Scorch marks also litter the grass in the area. One in particular catches my eye. It stretches on for God-knows-how-long in two parallel lines. I drop to my knees and put a hand to the burnt grass, an unexplainable feeling arising in my chest. The rain from earlier at some point started coming down harder, as I'm now pelted a few times every second. I look up to the gray sky. My mind races, but at the same time remains completely empty. Various thoughts swim around in my head, but just out of the grasp of legitimate comprehension. I just stay there, kneeling in the middle of the battlefield, not knowing what to do, what to think, or what to feel. But Luna's voice brings me back to reality.

"He was here!" She exclaims out of nowhere.

For a second, I don't know what the hell she's talking about, the comment having caught me off guard. "What?" I ask, looking back down at the earth, but not turning to Luna.

"His scent is still lingering in the area! Yours too!"

Jordan... That's right, Luna's a wolf! She can track his scent! I jump to my feet, spinning around to Luna. Her now twitches as she looks around frantically.

"Luna, can you find him?!" I ask excitedly, rushing to her.

She looks at me for a second, then furrows her eyebrows. She looks at me in silence, then takes off into the trees that remain. Shit, I did kinda go off on her, didn't I? But I can't afford to lose her, not now. If I lose track of her, I can kiss finding Jordan goodbye. I run back over to Shadow, getting situated atop his back as fast as I can, and we take off in her direction. I wish I didn't even need her to track him down, but I wouldn't even know where to start. After Jordan got knocked out, Shawn made sure I was in the same boat as him. I don't even know how long before Jordan I woke up. As I ride, I recount what happened in Jordan's and my floating prison.

Various things float in and out of my mind. First, I see Shawn pinned against the wall of our cell, Jordan mercilessly delivering blow after blow straight to his face. The sound of flesh smashing so hard against flesh that I swear I hear it hit the bone underneath, resonating vividly in my mind, send shivers down my spine. Jordan's knuckles are painted with blood with each hit. Next is us trapped in that office.

_"We are so fucked!"_ My words come flooding back to me. _"We could be out of this place already! Why did I think listening to you was a good idea?!" "You get us stuck in this room with whatever-the-fuck pounding on the door to get in, then you give me the silent treatment!"_

_"I'm sorry, what?!" I got us into this?! None of this would be happening if you had just left! We wouldn't be here at all if you had just fucking listened to me! But, of course, you didn't! In one ear and out the other, just like always! And you have the audacity to get mad at me for something that wouldn't have happened if you would listen to me just one! Fucking! Time!"_

My heart drops hard into my stomach hearing those words for a second time. In the end, he just wanted for us to make it out alive. And when we both couldn't, he wanted to make sure _I_ made it out alive. And all I did was give him shit. He really just wanted to secure my safety. God, what kind of girlfriend am I? No. What kind of _person_ am I? It's like the only time I'm nice to him is when he narrowly escapes death. I am...I'm just...terrible. Yet...he always came back. Why did he even want to be with me? All I did was be a gigantic bitch to him, even in the end. I even broke up with him for next to no reason and he still came back for me. Why does he even care? I just don't understand... When I find him, I vow to ease up on him, to stop acting the way I do. Because, in the blink of an eye, I could lose him for good.

I find myself coming back to my senses by a sudden jolt forward. Shadow stopped. Great, I let myself get distracted and lost sight of Luna. I look at my surroundings and see a beach. The water beyond the shore looks like it gets real deep real fast. I try to get Shadow to advance forward, but he doesn't move. He doesn't even dare set foot onto the sand. I slide off of his saddle and grab the reins, giving them a tug, attempting to pull the horse along, but he resists, refusing to leave his spot.

"Stupid horse." I mumble under my breath.

Taking a good look at him, I see something...off... He's just standing in place...shaking... The horse is...trembling... Something isn't right here. Then, I see it. Off in the distance. A stone fortress floating high in the sky with a waterfall cascading off one edge. My stomach drops and I get extremely nauseous just looking at it. If I'm going tofind Jordan anywhere, it'll be in there. But I can't bring myself to even consider going back in there. Then, my attention turns to the sea below. My eyes widen as a realization floods over me. There! He has to be in the water! Shawn was right on our asses! Jordan couldn't have fled back into the castle! But in his shape, he couldn't have fought him off either. The only other option was escape! And the only way out is over the edge! He has to have escaped into the water! It's the only possible answer! I start to walk along the coast in the direction of the fortress. Then I walk faster, and faster. Then I break into a jog-like speed. Then a frantic sprint. I rush to the area below and surrounding the floating prison, and drop to my hands and knees, looking into the water frantically. Of course, I can't see into it.

I immediately start to unlace my shoes, and pull them off along with my socks. I hurriedly unbutton my jeans and slide those off, too, followed by pulling my shirt up and over my head. Clad in just my bra and panties, I slide into the cold water, which sends chills rippling through my body. Just being a single block deep brings the water almost up to my chest. I absolutely hate swimming, and am terrible at it, but I'll do whatever I have to. I wade in the water until I reach a spot where it's more than a block deep. I just stand there, stomach-deep in the water as the gentle waves push back and forth against me. My heart is pounding out of my chest. I'm scared. I'm absolutely fucking terrified. This is the riskiest thing I've ever done in my life. I could very likely kill myself based on just the thought that Jordan could be down there somewhere. But if he is, he needs me. This isn't about me, it's about him. After everything he's done to keep me safe-to get me this far-I need to do this. I need to be strong for him!

As I stand there, I feel a tear slowly roll down my cheek. "Jordan," I say, looking down at the water. "please be down there." And with that, I take a deep breath, and dive in.

* * *

_**(Third Person POV)**_

A tear streaks down Andr's cheek, and she sits in her chair with a knot in her throat as she says, "Our link has been severed. He...he's gone..."

"And what good that does us." Shawn says, leaning back in his chair with his feet resting on top of the desk in front of him. "The boy was proving to be quite the pain the ass. Now we're one step closer to our goal. To carve our names into this world and make it our own." He says with a malevolent grin.

Andr sits silently, staring into space, as tear after tear drifts down the curvature of her face, down to her chin, and falls to her feet.

"You did a good job, Andr." He brings his feet to the ground and leans forward. "The operation went well, albeit not being the original plan. Get in and destroy them from the inside; so simple, yet so very, very difficult." He touches a finger to a figurine on the desk that resembles Jordan. He begins to play around with the figurine, turning it on its edge in a swiveling motion. "Now that their leader is down," He gives the figurine a light flick, knocking it over. "the rest will crumble." He knocks over a figurine of Skye. "One." Neige. "By." Luna. "One." Ana. "They'll topple like dominoes." Cupa. "Their entire group will cave like a house of cards." He takes his arm and sweeps all of the face-down figurines onto the floor. Until there's only one left." Shawn rests a few fingers on a figurine of Andr, which remains standing. "And once they're all gone," He slides one final figurine across the desk to rest next to Andr's. "we'll take over." He rest his other hand on the last figurine, resembling himself. "Well? Don't you feel amazing? Don't you have anything to say?"

Andr mumbles something, too soft for him to hear.

"What was that?" Shawn asks.

"I quit." she says.

_"What?"_ Shawn's giddy, evil expression immediately goes sour.

"I can't do it. I can't fucking do it anymore!" the Endergirl screams at him. "At first I didn't have any qualms with killing him. I wasn't exactly a stranger to doing that. But...he was so kind to me...from the very start, the first thing he did was offer me a place to stay the night." She hangs her head in her hands. "When I tried to leave, he made me stay." The house was made for far less people than what he had, yet he still compensated for me, a random stranger. He was there for me when I was being torn apart from the inside, he even carried me on his back when I just didn't want to walk, even tho we're the same size and that must have felt awkward for him. He gave me food, shelter, safety... home... purpose... meaning..." At this point, Andr's voice has already broken down. "The more he did for me, the more...I wanted to stay with him... The less I wanted to harm him.. The more...I loved him..."

Andr looks up to see Shawn standing over her, his eyes glowing with rage. Before she can do anything, he delivers a quick blow to her jaw, easily knocking her out of her chair. She can't manage to do anything, not even warp away. She just lies there in shock, and in fear. He grabs a handful of her brown hair and yanks her up, halfway to her feet, and looks her dead in they eyes. She quickly tries to divert her gaze.

"Look at me." he says.

Andr doesn't comply.

"I said _look at me!_" Shawn gives her a jab in the nose.

Now Andr looks at him through teary eyes.

"I gave you _everything_!" He punches her hard in the stomach. "A year and a half ago, when you were feral and running around looking like a monster who'd jumped from some kid's nightmares, _I_ was the one who found you!" Another blow. "_I_ was the one who took you in!" Another. "I gave you a home! I gave you food! I gave you clothes!" Blow after blow after blow. "I've done everything I could to get you to where you are now, and _this_ is how you treat me, droning on and on about what another person's done, completing ignoring everything I blessed you with!"

The only thing that escapes Andr is cries and whimpers as Shawn's fist connects hard with various part of her body.

"No one has done or will sacrifice as much for you as I have over the past almost two years!" Shawn yanks her hair again, pulling her face up to be level with his, and stares her in the eyes. "I should've left you out in the rain that night I found you. Or better, I should've just killed you and saved myself the trouble of taking care of you." With that, he lets go of her hair, and she falls limply to the floor.

"I...I'm sorry..." Andr manages to let out in a hoarse voice, gasping for air through the tears and pain. Her chest heaves as she tries her best to suck in oxygen

Shawn looks at her through angry eyes, before sternly saying, "You know what to do."

Just hearing that sentence makes even more tears escape her eyes. Through the tears, however, she manages to bring herself to all fours facing away from him. "Yes...Master..." Tears stream down her face as she says this and she lifts her skirt up onto her back. She pulls her purple lace panties to the side as she hears the sound of Shawn unbuckling and unzipping his pants behind her.


End file.
